Review Of Recent Mining Cases In Australia

In this White Paper, we examine three recently decided Australian cases that separately provide guidance on topics of interest to the mining sector.

In the first, the court refused planning approval for a new open cut coal mine in the Gloucester Valley in New South Wales. The refusal was predominantly based on significant net negative social impacts. In the second, the implied duty of cooperation in commercial contracts was applied in the context of a provision requiring a payment for the achievement of a certain measured resource milestone. In the third, the court implied a term dealing with the completion of a feasibility study in determining whether a company had completed the study and earned an interest in an exploration licence.