9Reimbursement of exploration costs

9 Reimbursement of exploration costs

(1)  [Section 9 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 38 of 2002, s. 7, Applied:27 Nov 2002] The holder of a licence under the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 may be reimbursed the reasonable cost of any work conducted under that licence if –

(a) the licence authorises the holder to explore for minerals on any Crown land in a strategic prospectivity zone; and

(b) the use of any part of that land is changed under any law of the State resulting in the licence being revoked.

(2)  An amount that is required to be reimbursed to the holder of a licence under subsection (1) is to be paid to the holder within a period of 3 months after it becomes due and, if not so paid, is recoverable as a debt due by the Crown to the holder of the licence in any court of competent jurisdiction.