New legislation to be drafted to validate mining tenements
01 December 2017
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Legislation will be drafted to validate granted mining tenements
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Once drafted it will be introduced to State Parliament
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Amending the Mining Act will ensure security of title and assurance for industry
WA Government: The McGowan Government has
received
approval to draft and introduce the Mining Legislation
Amendment and Validation Bill 2017 and amend the Mining Act 1978.
The amending legislation will validate granted tenements and ensure
security of title for
mining companies.
This announcement follows the High Court's decision on the Forrest &
Forrest v Wilson case in August 2017.
The High Court found the process of granting mining lease applications
was flawed.
The Mining Act requires a mining lease application to be accompanied by
either a mining proposal or a mineralisation report.
The amending legislation will validate those mining leases where the
mineralisation report was not submitted concurrently with the mining
application.
No interested party was disadvantaged by allowing the documents in
question to be lodged separately.
The State Government has encouraged the Commonwealth to progress
complementary amendments to the Native Title Act to ensure complete
certainty.
Comments attributed to Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill
Johnston:
"The McGowan Government recognises the importance of the resources
sector to
Western Australia and the importance of security of tenure.
"We have kept our promise and acted swiftly to resolve this serious
matter.
"Not taking action to validate mining tenements could have significant
implications for the State as an investment destination.
"I can assure the industry this matter has been taken very seriously and
we're getting on with the job."
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Source: Western Australia Government - www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au
Contact: Minister's office - 6552 5500
External Links: N/A
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