Compulsory Splitting Of Mining Lease Applications

Key Point

• Mining companies are required to submit more than one Mining Lease Application where multiple petroleum tenures held by different owners cover the whole of a proposed mining lease application area.

Pursuing a mining lease application as a single application or as multiple applications was formerly a decision that could be made at the discretion of the mining lease applicant. But this is no longer the case. Recent changes to the Mineral Resources Act mean that, in some circumstances, mining lease applications must be split.

If a mining lease applicant is seeking a mining lease for coal or oil shale over an area that is partly subject to petroleum tenures (ie. authorities to prospect or petroleum leases) and partly not, then separate mining lease applications must be made for each of those areas.