Tenure

Section 24 of the Mining Act 1978 allows the Minister for Mines and Petroleum to grant consent to ‘mine' on reserve land, where mining by definition includes exploration, prospecting and fossicking as well as productive mining. Prior to grant of this consent to mine on reserves, the Minister for Mines and Petroleum must obtain the concurrence or recommendations of the Minister for the Environment to ‘mining' depending on the reserve category.

Exploration

Where the Minister for the Environment provides the recommendation or concurrence for ‘mining' (including exploration) it will be subject to applying certain standard tenement conditions as agreed between DEC and DMP. These standard tenement conditions are known as the DEC Lands Schedule of conditions (see below). One of these standard tenement conditions relates to the requirement for a Conservation Management Plan (CMP).

Conservation Management Plans

Guidelines for conservation Management Plans (CMP) relating to mineral exploration on lands managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation have been produced by DEC to assist staff and proponents in the development of CMPs (see below). A list of DEC contacts for each relevant DEC region and mineral field map is provided below. These staff should be the first point of contact for consultation on the development of CMPs.