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Mineral Titles Act 2010
135Authorised fossicking
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135 Authorised fossicking
(1) A person may enter land of the Territory to fossick only in
accordance with this Part, unless the fossicking is to be conducted
under an ML authorising tourist fossicking.
(2) For this Act, to fossick is to do any of the following except as a
commercial fossicking activity:
(a) search for a mineral by hand or any hand-held instrument (for
example, a hand-held metal-detecting device) to a depth not
exceeding 1 metre below the line of the natural surface of the
land;
(b) extract limited amounts of a mineral, as prescribed by
regulation, by hand or a hand-held instrument that is not
power-operated;
(c) remove a mineral following a search or extraction done in
accordance with paragraph (a) or (b).
Mineral Titles Act 2010 71
(3) For subsection (2), a commercial fossicking activity is the
extraction of substantial amounts of minerals to which this Part
applies, conducted as part of a business trading in those minerals
from which the person conducting the activity derives a significant
income.
Note for subsection (3)
The extraction of minerals as a commercial fossicking activity is mining and the
person conducting the activity must hold an ML authorising the activity.
(4) For subsection (2)(a) and (b), searching for or extracting a mineral
by a method that involves the use of explosives is not fossicking.
(5) A reference in this section to a mineral:
(a) does not include a reference to any of the following:
(i) diamonds, fossils of vertebrate animals, and meteorite
fragments;
(ii) another mineral or substance excluded by regulation;
and
(b) includes a reference to a substance prescribed by regulation.