(1) Subject to this
Act the holder of a miner’s right is authorised to do all or any of the
following things —
(a) pass
and repass over Crown land or conservation land with such employees and
agents, vehicles, machinery and equipment as may be necessary or expedient for
the purpose of prospecting and marking out any land which may be made the
subject of an application for a mining tenement;
(b)
prospect for minerals and conduct tests for minerals on available land for the
purpose of determining whether to mark out or apply for a mining tenement in
respect of any part of the land;
(c)
extract or remove from available land samples or specimens of rock, ore or
minerals with as little damage to the surface of the land as possible, in
quantities, in total or on occasions, not exceeding the prescribed limits;
(d) keep
as the holder’s property or use for testing or evaluation purposes any
samples and specimens of any mineral found by the holder on available land;
(e) for
the purpose of prospecting and for domestic purposes and subject to the Rights
in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 , or any Act amending or replacing the
relevant provisions of that Act —
(i)
take and use water from any natural spring, lake, pool or
watercourse situated in or flowing through available land; and
(ii)
sink a well or bore on available land and take and use
water from the well or bore;
(f) for
the purpose of prospecting, camp on Crown land or conservation land in such
manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed;
(g)
fossick by prescribed means on Crown land or conservation land with the prior
written consent of —
(i)
any occupier of that land; and
(ii)
if the land is subject to a mining tenement, the holder
of the mining tenement.
(2) Every
miner’s right is to be regarded as having been issued subject to the
conditions that the holder of the miner’s right or any other person
acting in the exercise or purported exercise of an authorisation conferred or
alleged to be conferred by subsection (1) —
(a) must
not, on conservation land, do any of the things referred to in that subsection
unless authorised to do so under the Conservation and Land Management Act
1984 ; and
(b) must
not use explosives or tools, other than tools prescribed for the purposes of
this paragraph or hand tools; and
(c) must
cause to be filled in or otherwise made safe —
(i)
all holes, pits, trenches and other disturbances on the
surface of the land which were made by the person while acting in the exercise
or purported exercise of the authorisation and which are likely to endanger
the safety of any person or animal; and
(ii)
such other holes, pits, trenches and other disturbances
made, wholly or in part, by the person as the Minister may from time to time
direct;
and
(d) must
take all necessary steps to prevent the following —
(i)
fire damage to trees or other property;
(ii)
damage to property or to livestock by the presence of
dogs, the discharge of firearms, the use of vehicles or otherwise.
(3) The holder of a
miner’s right is liable to pay compensation in accordance with
section 123, as may be agreed or as may be determined by the warden’s
court on the application of the owner or occupier of the land or of the holder
of any mining tenement affected, for any loss or damage caused by, and not
made good by, the holder or any other person acting in the exercise or
purported exercise of an authorisation conferred or alleged to be conferred by
subsection (1).
(4) A determination
made by the warden’s court under subsection (3) is, for the purposes of
section 147(1), a final determination of the warden’s court.
[Section 40D inserted: No. 51 of 2012 s. 15.]