Before section 162 of the Principal Act , the following sections are inserted in Division 1:

161E.     Director to publish notice where licence ceases to apply to land

(1)  In this section –

Department means the department responsible, in relation to the administration of this Act, to the Minister to whom the administration of this Act is assigned;

relevant licence means an exploration licence, a special exploration licence or a retention licence.

(2)  As soon as practicable after a relevant licence ceases to be in force, the Director must ensure that a notice, specifying –

(a) that the licence has ceased to be in force on a date specified in the notice; and

(b) the area of land to which the licence related; and

(c) that applications may be made under this Act for a lease, or a licence, in relation to a mineral, or a category of minerals, to which the licence related, on or after the date specified for that purpose in the notice –

is published on a website of the Department, and remains on that website until at least the expiry of the date specified in accordance with paragraph (c) .

(3)  The date specified for the purposes of subsection (2)(c) in a notice in relation to a relevant licence is to be a day that is at least 2 months after the area of land to which the notice relates is no longer subject to the relevant licence.

161F.     Authorisation to conduct geological investigation

(1)  An applicant for a licence, permit or lease under the Crown Lands Act 1976 or the Forestry Act 1920 may apply to the Director for an authorisation to conduct a geological investigation.

(2)  The Director may, on the application of a person under subsection (1)  –

(a) issue to the person an authorisation to conduct a geological investigation; or

(b) refuse to issue such an authorisation to the person.

(3)  The Director may only issue an authorisation if the Director is satisfied that the authorisation is required to enable the carrying out of works for the purposes of collecting data to enable the determination by the Minister of whether all or part of the area of land has significant prospectivity.

(4)  An authorisation is issued subject to –

(a) the conditions specified in subsection (5) ; and

(b) any other conditions that the Director thinks fit and specifies on the authorisation.

(5)  It is a condition of an authorisation that –

(a) work is to be conducted under the authorisation in accordance with the Mineral Exploration Code of Practice; and

(b) work is only to be conducted under the authorisation if the work is approved by the Director under section 161G(3) .

(6)  The conditions that the Director may specify on an authorisation include, but are not limited to including, a condition that the person must provide to the Director a security deposit in the form and the amount required by the Director.

(7)  An authorisation issued to a person in relation to an area of land specified in the authorisation authorises the person, any employees or agents of the person and any other person authorised by the person, to, in accordance with the conditions of the authorisation –

(a) conduct on that land, in accordance with the Mineral Exploration Code of Practice, works, specified in that code, that are approved by the Director under section 161G(3) ; and

(b) enter Crown land within that area for the purposes of conducting the works referred to in paragraph (a) .

(8)  The holder of an authorisation must ensure that the conditions of the authorisation, and of any approval under section 161G(3) , are complied with by the holder and a person acting under a contract of service, or a contract for services, with the holder of the authorisation.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 100 penalty units.

161G.     Works approval under authorisation to conduct geological investigation

(1)  In this section –

authorisation means an authorisation issued under section 161F that is in force.

(2)  A person who holds an authorisation may, on the approved form, apply to the Director for approval to carry out works under the authorisation.

(3)  The Director may approve, unconditionally or on conditions, an application made under subsection (2) .

(4)  The Director may only approve works under subsection (3) if –

(a) the works are of a kind specified in the Mineral Exploration Code of Practice; and

(b) the works are for the purposes of collecting data to enable the determination by the Minister of whether all or part of the area of land has significant prospectivity.