---
title: "Exploration licence or mining lease application: pre-lodgement checklist (NSW)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/tenement-application-pre-lodgement-checklist-nsw"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a13-tenement-application-pre-lodgement-checklist-nsw"
area_id: "A13"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A13-S20261018-4"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-18"
---

# Exploration licence or mining lease application: pre-lodgement checklist (NSW)

> Pre-lodgement checklist for an application for an exploration licence or mining lease under the Mining Act 1992 (NSW): eligibility, mineral allocation and controlled release areas, fee and prescribed information,…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/tenement-application-pre-lodgement-checklist-nsw  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-18

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Pre-lodgement checklist for an application for an exploration licence or mining lease under the Mining Act 1992 (NSW): eligibility, mineral allocation and controlled release areas, fee and prescribed information, proposed work program, and notice of the application within 14 days.

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Energy, Resources & Mining](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining.md)
- Jurisdictions: New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-18
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-18 against the 4 authorities it cites, for New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use before a client lodges an application for a NSW exploration licence or mining lease, so the application is not refused or delayed for a threshold defect, and the post-lodgement notice and native title steps are diarised.

## Used for these tasks

- [Prepare and lodge an application for a mining tenement](https://ailawframework.com/practice/energy-resources-and-mining.md#A13-S20261018-4)

## How AI may be used

AI may assemble the application pack checklist from the client's data and the regulations the lawyer has identified; the lawyer checks eligibility, the area restrictions, the work program and the notice before lodgement.

**AI may:**

- List the information and documents the regulations require for the application type, from the lawyer-identified provisions
- Check the proposed area against register searches for overlapping titles, allocation areas and controlled release areas, and flag overlaps
- Diarise the 14-day notice deadline from the lodgement date

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide whether the land is in a mineral allocation area or controlled release area, or whether ministerial consent is needed
- Must not prepare the proposed work program's technical content; that comes from the client's geologists or engineers
- Must not lodge the application

**The lawyer checks:**

- The applicant is eligible for the application type and area, including any restriction in s 13(3), (3A) or s 51(3), (3A)
- The fee, prescribed information and a compliant proposed work program accompany the application (ss 13(4), 51(4), 129A)
- Notice of the application will be published within 14 days with a plan of the area (ss 13A, 51A), and native title and land access steps are planned

## Authorities

- [Mining Act 1992 (NSW) s 13 (application for an exploration licence: mineral allocation and controlled release areas; lodgement with the Secretary, fee, prescribed information; mineral owner applications by all owners)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-1992-029)
- [Mining Act 1992 (NSW) s 13A (notice of an exploration licence application within 14 days, with a plan of the proposed exploration area)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-1992-029)
- [Mining Act 1992 (NSW) ss 51 and 51A (application for a mining lease and its limits in allocation and controlled release areas; notice within 14 days with a plan of the proposed mining area)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-1992-029)
- [Mining Act 1992 (NSW) s 129A (applications must be accompanied by a proposed work program complying with the regulations) and s 130 (withdrawal of an application)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-1992-029)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/tenement-application-pre-lodgement-checklist-nsw and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*