13General entitlement to apply for permit

13 General entitlement to apply for permit (1) A person may apply to the Minister for the grant of 1 or more geothermal exploration permits. (2) The application area for each application for the grant of a permit may comprise: (a) not more than 2 000 adjoining blocks; or (b) if the Minister has given written approval – more than 2 000 adjoining blocks. (3) However, an application area must not comprise any of the following blocks: (a) reserved blocks; (b) blocks within a geothermal authority area; (c) blocks that are within the application area for another application for the grant of a permit received by the Agency on an earlier day.