15Application for a licence

15 Application for a licence S. 15(1) amended by No. 59/2010 s. 9(1). (1) A person may apply to the Minister in accordance with the regulations for an exploration licence, a mining licence, prospecting licence or retention licence. S. 15(1A) inserted by No. 86/1993 s. 9(1). (1A) An application for a licence is ineffective, and must not be accepted by the Minister, to the extent that it is for— S. 15(1A)(a) substituted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(2). (a) a licence over land that is covered by a mining licence or that is the subject of an application for a mining licence; or S. 15(1A)(b) substituted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(2). (b) an exploration licence over land that is covered by an exploration licence or that is the subject of an application for an exploration licence; or S. 15(1A)(ba) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(2). (ba) a prospecting licence over land that is covered by a prospecting licence or that is the subject of an application for a prospecting licence; or S. 15(1A)(bb) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(2). (bb) a retention licence over land that is covered by a retention licence or that is the subject of an application for a retention licence; or S. 15(1A)(c) amended by No. 59/2010 s. 9(3)(a). (c) a mining licence over land that is covered by an exploration licence or a prospecting licence or retention licence unless— S. 15(1A)(c)(i) amended by No. 59/2010 s. 9(3)(b). (i) the applicant is the holder of the exploration licence, prospecting licence or retention licence; or S. 15(1A)(c)(ii) substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(a), amended by No. 59/2010 s. 9(3)(b). (ii) the application is accompanied by the written consent of the holder of the exploration licence, prospecting licence or retention licence to the granting of the licence; or S. 15(1A)(c)(iii) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(a), repealed by No. 59/2010 s. 9(3)(c). S. 15(1A)(ca) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(4). (ca) a prospecting licence over land that is covered by an exploration licence or that is the subject of an application for an exploration licence unless— (i) the applicant is the holder of, or the applicant for, the exploration licence; or (ii) the application is accompanied by the written consent of the holder of, or the applicant for, the exploration licence to the granting of the licence; or (iii) the exploration licence was first registered more than 2 years before the application for the prospecting licence was lodged; or S. 15(1A)(cb) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(4). (cb) a prospecting licence over land that is covered by a retention licence or that is the subject of an application for a retention licence unless— (i) the applicant is the holder of, or the applicant for, the retention licence; or (ii) the application is accompanied by the written consent of the holder of, or the applicant for, the retention licence to the granting of the licence; or S. 15(1A)(cc) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(4). (cc) a retention licence over land that is covered by an exploration licence or that is the subject of an application for an exploration licence unless— (i) the applicant is the holder of, or the applicant for, the exploration licence; or (ii) the application is accompanied by the written consent of the holder of, or the applicant for, the exploration licence to the granting of the licence; or S. 15(1A)(cd) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(4). (cd) a retention licence over land that is covered by a prospecting licence or that is the subject of an application for a prospecting licence unless— (i) the applicant is the holder of, or the applicant for, the prospecting licence; or (ii) the application is accompanied by the written consent of the holder of, or the applicant for, the prospecting licence to the granting of the licence; or S. 15(1A)(d) substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(b). (d) a licence over land in respect of which an application for a licence has already been made (unless the application is made on the same day as the other application); or S. 15(1A)(e) amended by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(c). (e) a licence over land that is subject to the tender process under section 27; or S. 15(1A)(f) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(c). (f) a licence over land that is the subject of an exemption under section 6 or 7; or S. 15(1A)(g) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(c), repealed by No. 63/2006 s. 9(a), new s. 15(1A)(g) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(5). (g) a prospecting licence over land that abuts land covered by an adjoining prospecting licence and— S. 15(1A)(g)(i) amended by No. 64/2012 s. 19(1). (i) that application has been made within 2 years after the registration of the adjoining prospecting licence; or (ii) the land to be covered by that application and land covered by other prospecting licences will form a contiguous area of land that exceeds 20 hectares; or S. 15(1A)(ga) inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 19(2). (ga) a prospecting licence over land that abuts land that is the subject of an application for a prospecting licence; or S. 15(1A)(h) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(c). (h) a licence over land that was covered by a previous licence if the application is lodged less than 28 days after the previous licence ceased to apply to the land; or S. 15(1A)(i) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(1)(c). (i) a licence over land that was the subject of a previous application if the application is lodged less than 28 days after the previous application lapsed, or was withdrawn, rejected or not accepted. S. 15(1AB) inserted by No. 10/2014 s. 7. (1AB) Subsection (1A)(h) and (i) do not apply if— (a) the person who applied for the licence is the holder of an exploration licence, mining licence or retention licence covering land that surrounds the area of the application; and (b) the land was previously covered by— (i) a mining licence not exceeding 5 hectares; or (ii) a prospecting licence; or (iii) an application for a prospecting licence. S. 15(1B) inserted by No. 86/1993 s. 9(1), amended by No. 59/2010 s. 9(6). (1B) An application of a kind described in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (1A) must be taken to be an application for an exploration licence, mining licence, prospecting licence or retention licence (as the case requires) over any other land to which it relates. S. 15(1BA) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BA) An application for a licence must specify the mineral or minerals to which the licence will relate. S. 15(1BAA) inserted by No. 8/2017 s. 5. (1BAA) An application for an exploration licence, a mining licence or a retention licence is ineffective, and must not be accepted by the Minister, to the extent that it specifies that the licence is to relate to coal seam gas. S 15(1BB) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BB) An application for a mining licence (other than an infrastructure mining licence) or a retention licence must describe, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Minister, a mineral resource. S 15(1BC) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BC) In addition, an application for a retention licence must specify the area of land that the licence will cover and the reasons for that coverage. S 15(1BD) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BD) To avoid doubt, an application for an exploration licence or a prospecting licence is not required to describe a mineral resource. S 15(1BE) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BE) If the mineral resource described in an application referred to in subsection (1BB) is not being mined from the land that will be covered by the licence being applied for, the application must include a report (a ***mineralisation report***) prepared by a competent person that— (a) sets out the exploration results in relation to the described mineral resource; and (b) includes an analysis of whether the exploration results indicate that there is a reasonable prospect that the mining of the described mineral resource will be economically viable. S 15(1BF) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BF) The exploration results referred to in subsection (1BE) must— (a) specify the type of the mineral or minerals; and (b) specify the location, depth, quantity and extent of the mineral or minerals; and (c) specify the method by which the extent of the mineral or minerals have been determined; and (d) include analytical results obtained from samples of the mineral or minerals. S 15(1BG) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(7). (1BG) In subsection (1BE), a ***competent person*** means a person prescribed for the purposes of that subsection as a competent person. S 15(1BH) inserted by No. 68/2014 s. 20(1). (1BH) Unless otherwise provided by the regulations, an application for a mining licence, prospecting licence or retention licence must include a survey of the boundaries of the land proposed to be covered by the licence in accordance with Division 3A. S. 15(1C) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(2). (1C) An application for a licence is ineffective, and must not be accepted by the Minister, if it does not contain all of the details required by the regulations for an application for that type of licence. S. 15(1D) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(2). (1D) For the purpose of determining whether an application falls within a category listed in subsection (1A), the Minister may ask the applicant to provide additional information about the application (but only if that information is not information that was required by the regulations). S. 15(1E) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(2). (1E) The request for the additional information must be made in writing and may specify a time within which the information is to be given to the Minister. S. 15(1F) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(2). (1F) If, in asking for additional information, the Minister specified a period within which the information was to be given, the application lapses if— (a) the information is not given to the Minister within the time specified by the Minister in making the request (or within any later time subsequently allowed by the Minister in writing); and (b) the Minister has not withdrawn the request for the information within the times referred to in paragraph (a). S. 15(1G) inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(2). (1G) If, in asking for additional information, the Minister did not specify a period within which the information was to be given, the application lapses if the information is not given to the Minister within 6 months after the request was made (unless the Minister withdraws the request within that time). S. 15(2) substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(3). (2) If the Minister does not accept an application, he or she must notify the applicant in writing that the application has not been accepted and must include in the notification details of the reasons why it was not accepted. S. 15(3) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 31(b), substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(3). (3) If the Minister accepts an application, he or she must notify the applicant in writing that the application has been accepted, and must include in the notification— S. 15(3)(aa) inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 19(3). (aa) if the application is not the only application that has been accepted, a statement that more than one application has been received and accepted and that the applications will be ranked in accordance with this Part; or S. 15(3)(a) amended by No. 64/2012 s. 19(4). (a) if, because of section 23, the application has a lower ranking than another application, a statement that another application has a higher ranking; or S. 15(3)(b) amended by No. 64/2012 s. 19(5). (b) in any other case, a statement that the application has the highest ranking. S. 15(4) amended by Nos 76/1998 s. 31(b), 64/2012 s. 19(6). (4) On an application ceasing to have a lower ranking than another application, the Department Head must notify the applicant that the application has the highest ranking. S. 15(5) amended by Nos 53/2011 s. 3, 64/2012 s. 19(7). (5) An applicant for a licence must, within 14 days after being notified under subsection (3)(b) or (4) that the application has the highest ranking, advertise the application in accordance with the regulations and, if the application is for a mining licence or a prospecting licence, give notice of it in accordance with the regulations to the owner and occupier of the land affected[[2]](#endnote-3). S. 15(5A) inserted by No. 86/1993 s. 9(2), amended by Nos 63/2006 s. 9(b), 64/2012 s. 19(8). (5A) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after an applicant for a licence covering unrestricted Crown land is notified under subsection (3)(b) or (4) that the application has the highest ranking, consult with the Crown land Minister in relation to the carrying out of work on that land and the Crown land Minister may recommend to the Minister conditions to which the licence should be made subject. (6) An applicant for a licence must satisfy the Minister that the applicant— (a) is a fit and proper person to hold the licence; and S. 15(6)(b) substituted by No. 86/1993 s. 9(3). (b) intends to comply with this Act; and S. 15(6)(ba) inserted by No. 86/1993 s. 9(3), substituted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(8). (ba) subject to subsection (6A), genuinely intends to do work; and S. 15(6)(c) substituted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(8). (c) subject to subsection (6A), has an appropriate program of work; and (d) is likely to be able to finance the proposed work and rehabilitation of the land. S. 15(6A) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(9). (6A) An applicant for a retention licence is not required to satisfy the Minister that the applicant genuinely intends to do work and has an appropriate program of work if the Minister considers it unnecessary or inappropriate in the circumstances. S. 15(6B) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(9). (6B) Without limiting subsection (6), an applicant for a mining licence (other than an infrastructure mining licence) or a retention licence must satisfy the Minister that there is a reasonable prospect that the mining of the mineral resource described in the application will be economically viable. S. 15(6C) inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 9(9). (6C) Without limiting subsection (6), in the case where the Minister accepts an application for a mining licence or a retention licence referred to in subsection (1BB), the Minister must, for the purpose of being satisfied whether to grant the mining licence or retention licence, consider the mineralisation report included in the application. (7) An applicant for a licence must provide any additional information about the application that is requested in writing by the Minister, within 14 days after receipt of the request or any longer time allowed by the Minister. S. 15(8) substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(4). (8) If the Minister asks for additional information about an application, the application lapses if— (a) the information is not given to the Minister within the time required by subsection (7); and (b) the Minister has not withdrawn the request for the information within that time. S. 15(9) substituted by No. 82/2000 s. 14(4), amended by No. 64/2012 s. 19(9), substituted by No. 68/2014 s. 20(2). (9) In consenting to the granting of a mining licence, prospecting licence or retention licence over land that is covered by an exploration licence or that is the subject of an application for an exploration licence, the holder of, or the applicant for, the exploration licence may make the consent conditional on specified depth restrictions. S. 15(10)–(14) repealed by No. 82/2000 s. 14(5). S. 15(15) amended by No. 27/1991 s. 4(3), repealed by No. 82/2000 s. 14(5). S. 15(16)–(18) repealed by No. 82/2000 s. 14(5). S. 15(19) amended by No. 27/1991 s. 4(3), repealed by No. 82/2000 s. 14(5). S. 16 amended by No. 76/1998 s. 31(b), repealed by No. 82/2000 s. 14(6), new s. 16 inserted by No. 59/2010 s. 10.