Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) The Minister may
approve retention status for the whole or any part of the land the subject of
an exploration licence if satisfied that —
(a)
there is an identified mineral resource located in, on or under that land; and
(b) the
mining of that identified mineral resource is impracticable because —
(i)
the resource is uneconomic or subject to marketing
problems although the resource may reasonably be expected to become economic
or marketable in the future; or
(ii)
the resource is required to sustain the future operations
of an existing or proposed mining operation; or
(iii)
there are existing political, environmental or other
difficulties in obtaining requisite approvals.
(2) An approval shall
be in writing.
(3) An approval takes
effect on the day on which notice of the approval is published in the Gazette
or on a later day specified in the notice.
(4) The area of land
to which an approval applies —
(a)
shall be a block or blocks; and
(b)
shall be an area that, in the opinion of the Minister, is sufficient to
include —
(i)
the land in, on or under which the identified mineral
resource is located; and
(ii)
such other land as may be required for future mining
operations in respect of that identified mineral resource.
(5) The area of land
to which an approval applies may be less than the area of land in respect of
which the approval was sought.
(6) If retention
status is approved for part of the land the subject of an exploration licence,
the land not covered by the approval ceases to be the subject of the licence
on the day on which the approval takes effect.
[Section 69B inserted: No. 39 of 2004 s. 24.]