Notification process for mining claims and leases

Landholders are notified whenever a miner applies for a new mining claim, mining lease or access over land. They are also notified when miners apply to renew an existing claim or lease.

The application process gives landholders the opportunity to object to the application and to seek compensation and appropriate access conditions for the use of their land.

Notification of a new application

After the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development gives the miner their mining claim notice or mining lease notice, the miner must notify the 'affected persons' about the application. Affected persons include the:

  • owner of the land
  • owner of 'access land' (i.e. land that allows them to reach the land on which they have a lease or claim notice)
  • owner of adjoining land (mining leases only)
  • entity that provides infrastructure wholly or partially on the land (mining leases only)
  • relevant local government.

Notifying native title holders

Native title holders may be considered affected persons if the land on which the mining claim or mining lease application relates is subject to a Federal Court decision that recognises they have a right to enjoy all, or part, of the land or waters in the application area 'to the exclusion of all other persons', or similar words. This is often described as 'exclusive' native title.

If the area contains land with exclusive native title, the miner must provide a copy of the mining claim or mining lease notice to the registered native title body corporate.

Documents for landholders

The miner must provide a copy of the:

  • mining claim or mining lease notice
  • application for the mining claim or lease
  • Small-scale mining code (PDF, 257KB) for mining claims that meet the requirements for small-scale mining activities
  • any other document or information required by the mining claim or mining lease notice.

These documents contain important information about:

  • rights to object to the grant of a mining claim or mining lease
  • the activities the miner wants to do.

The information in these documents will also be relevant for compensation negotiations.

Additional information about this process can be found in the Mining lease application guide (PDF, 446KB) and Mining claim application guideline (PDF, 491KB).

Notification at the renewal stage

The miner must notify landholders within 5 business days of applying to renew their mining claim or mining lease.

They must provide landholders with a copy of the:

Contact us

For more information, contact the Resource Community Infoline:

Also consider...