Sorting the Legislative Maze Between Landowners and Developing Resource Companies

In' South Australia,' amendments to the Mining Act 1971 impose additional procedural requirements on miners wishing to enter private land for exploration. The prescribed forms already used for notifying landowners that the miner will enter private land have been changed and updated. The Act also now sets out more detailed provisions which miners must follow before they can access exempt land, such as land used for cultivation, or land within 400 metres of a residence or water source. Landowners who have waived the exemption are entitled to cool off within five business days if they change their mind.

The amendments also make it clear that it is the tenement owner, not an agent of the tenement owner (like a mine operator), who is ultimately responsible for complying with the Act. Tenement holders will need to ensure that their authorised agents are following all of the required procedures, otherwise, they may be personally liable.

More recently, the Strategic Cropping Land Act 2011 (Qld) brings into force additional protection for the State's best cropping land. Mining projects will need to pass more rigorous assessment processes against the State's planning policy for strategic cropping land if the relevant land falls within the protection or management zones established under the Act. Activities which are likely to have a permanent impact on land, like open cut mining or storage of mine waste, are most likely to be affected. Mining companies should review the provisions to determine what impact, if any, they have on their resource projects.

In' New South Wales' (NSW), access arrangements with landowners are initiated by the service of notification under Section 142 of the Mining Act 1992 (NSW). A recent decision of the Supreme Court of NSW resulted in the introduction of an amendment to the Mining Act. The amendment relieves mining companies from the obligation to enter into access arrangements with parties holding registered proprietary interests in land who are not entitled to immediate possession of the land like a mortgagee or security holder who has not enforced its security over that land.

As mining activity increases and encroaches onto peri-urban and cultivated land, attention will focus on the rights of landowners and occupiers in their dealings with mining (and petroleum) companies seeking to exploit valuable underground resources.