Check whether mining can start on the surface of private land
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the title search, the tenement application and any consent or compensation note, list whether the land is in bona fide and regular use as a yard, stockyard, garden, orchard, vineyard, plant nursery or plantation, is under cultivation, is a cemetery, burial ground or reservoir, has a substantial improvement, is within 100 metres of such land, or is a separate parcel of 2,000 square metres or less. List whether the file has the written consent of the owner and the occupier, or a grant limited to below 30 metres. List whether compensation has been paid, tendered or agreed before any surface work. Do not write the compensation agreement and do not state a dollar figure.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether surface rights can be included and writes any compensation agreement. The private-land provisions brochure states that a mining tenement over the natural surface and to a depth of 30 metres is not granted over the classes of private land in section 29 except with the written consent of the owner and the occupier. Without that consent the grant is limited to land below 30 metres from the natural surface. The holder may later apply to include the surface to 30 metres if consent is then given, and until then that surface is not open to any other person. Section 35 states that the holder must not commence mining on the surface, or to a depth of 30 metres, until compensation has been paid or tendered, or an agreement made as to the amount, times and mode. Sections 123 and 124 cover compensation for deprivation of possession, damage to the surface and improvements, severance, rights of way and consequential damage, and state that compensation is not payable for the value of any mineral. The amount is by agreement or, in default, determined by the warden's court. Section 123(5) also covers adjoining or nearby land that is injured or depreciated. An application on private land must, within 14 days, be served with a plan on the clerk of the municipal council, the owner and occupier, and each mortgagee, under section 33(1) and regulation 7(1). If there is no occupier, the copy is affixed in a conspicuous place on the land. A sub-surface application for land below 30 metres need not be served on the owner, occupier or mortgagee. The brochure is marked revised as at 2 September 2014, and the lawyer confirms the current provisions before a grant or a start of mining is treated as available. The tool does not draft the compensation agreement.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the title search, the tenement application and any consent or compensation note, list whether the land is in bona fide and regular use as a yard, stockyard, garden, orchard, vineyard, plant nursery or plantation, is under cultivation, is a cemetery, burial ground or reservoir, has a substantial improvement, is within 100 metres of such land, or is a separate parcel of 2,000 square metres or less. List whether the file has the written consent of the owner and the occupier, or a grant limited to below 30 metres. List whether compensation has been paid, tendered or agreed before any surface work. Do not write the compensation agreement and do not state a dollar figure. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Match the land to the section 29 classes, including land within 100 metres and a parcel of 2,000 square metres or less.
- Record written consent, or a limit below 30 metres, and whether compensation has been paid, tendered or agreed.
- Count 14 days from the application for service on the council, owner, occupier and mortgagee, and confirm any agreement is the lawyer's.
Sources
- Private land provisions brochure, Mining Act guidelines, marked revised as at 2 September 2014 · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.