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©State of Queensland
QUEENSLAND
The Mining on Private Land Acts~ 1909 to 1965
(Compiled to 1st January, 1970)
Prepared by direction of The Honourable R. E. CAMM, M.L.A.,
Minister for Mines and Main Roads
By Authority: S. G. Reid, Government Printer, Brisbane-1970
PAGE MINING ON PRIVATE LAND AcTS, 1909 TO 1965 1
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND AcTs AMENDMENT AcT oF 1956 16
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS AMENDMENT ACT OF 1965 17
THE
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 to 1965
Mining on Private Land Act of 1909,9 Edw. 7 No.15 Amended by
Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925, 16 Geo. 5 No. 8, s. 4 Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1927, 18 Geo. 5 No. 16, Part III Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1929, 20 Geo. 5 No. 35, Part II Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1930, 21 Geo. 5 No. 32, ss. 35, 36 Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1950, 14 Geo. 6 No. 6 Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38 Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1954, 3 Eliz. 2 No. 7 Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23 Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1965, No. 20
An Act to Regulate Mining on Private Land, and for other purposes [Assented to 29 December 1909]
1. Short title and construction. This Act may be cited as "The Mining on Private Land Act of 1909," and shall be read as one with the Mining Acts. "The Mining Act of 1898" is herein referred to as the Principal Act.
Collective title conferred by Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 1 (3).
Act referred to:
Mining Acts, 1898 to 1967.
2. Commencement of Act. This Act shall commence and take effect on and from the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and ten.
3. Amended the Principal Act.
4. Interpretation. In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the meanings set against them respectively, that is to say-
"lmproved Land"-The site or curtilage of any building, or any garden, lawn, yard, nursery for trees, orchard, vineyard, cultivated field (not being mere pasture land), sports ground, recreation ground, rifle range, reservoir, natural or artificial storage or accumulation of water, spring, dam, bore, artesian well, cemetery, burial-place, or place of worship, or any land on which a railway, tramway, bridge, or culvert is con-
structed, or any land used for stacking or storing or
depositing mining material, or mining requisites, or residues, mullock, slag, tailings, or mining debris;
"Mineral, as distinguished from gold"
For this definition see now section 21A, p. 13, post.
"Mining Acts"-"The Mining Act of 1898" and all Acts amending or in substitution for the same, including this Act, "The Coal Mining Acts, 1925 to 1950," and any Act amending or substituted for this Act or "The Coal Mining Acts, 1925 to 1950";
"Mining tenement"-Any mining tenement as defined by "The Mining Acts, 1898 to 1948": In applying the provisions of this Act to the grant of or an application for a coal- mining lease or a coal-mining license under and within the meaning of "The Coal Mining Acts, 1925 to 1951," in respect of any private land, the term means the land held under the coal-mining lease or the application therefor, or the land occupied under the coal-mining license, as the case
may be;
"Occupier"-The person in actual occupation of any private land;
or, if there is no person in actual occupation, the person entitled to possession thereof;
"Owner"-The owner or registered proprietor in fee-simple of any private land, or the person who for the time being is entitled to receive the rent of any private land, or who, if the same were let to a tenant at a rack-rent, would be entitled to receive the rent thereof: the term includes the person who is the licensee or lessee of land held under any Act relating to Crown land with the right of acquiring the fee-simple thereof: the term also includes every trust, corporation, or body having lawful control of the land in question;
"Private Land"
For this definition see now section 21A, p. 13, post.
"This Act"-This Act and all Proclamations and Regulations issued or made thereunder.
As amended by Act of 1950, 14 Geo. 6 No. 6, s. 2; Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 2.
Acts referred to:
Mining Acts, 1898 to 1967.
Coal Mining Act 1925-1969.
5. Nature of mine. In every case where, for the purposes of the Mining Acts, it is necessary to decide whether any mine on any land is or would be a gold mine or mine of other specified mineral, the question shall be determined by the fact whether gold or other specified mineral is or is not the most profitable metallic product of the ore obtained from the mine.
6. ( 1) Subject to this Act-
(i) Gold is the property of Crown. Gold on or below the sm}ace of all land in Queensland, whether alienated in fee-simple or not so alienated from the Crown, and if so alienated whensoever alienated, is the property of the Crown;
(ii) Silver when the property of the Crown. Silver on or below the surface of all land in Queensland whether alienated in fee-simple or not so alienated from the Crown, and if so
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 s. 7 3
alienated whensoever alienated, other than land alienated in pursuance of section · twenty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860," or section thirty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868," or section twenty- one of "The Mineral Lands Act of 1872," is the property of the Crown;
(iii) Copper, etc., since 1st March, 1899. Copper, tin, opal, and antimony on or below the surface of all land which is situated within the limits of a gold field or mineral field, and has been alienated in fee-simple from the Crown or lawfully contracted to be so alienated since the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, and also on or below the surface of all land wheresoever situated which is not alienated in fee-simple from the Crown at the commencement of this Act, are the property of the Crown;
(iv) Coal on certain lands. Coal on or below the surface of land subject to "The Agricultural Lands Special Purchase Act of 1901," whether alienated in fee-simple from the Crown at the commencement of this Act or not, is the property of the Crown;
( v) Other minerals on lands not yet alienated. All other minerals on or below the surface of all land which is not alienated in fee-simple from the Crown at the commencement of this Act are the property of the Crown.
( 2) Reservations in Crown grants. All Crown grants and leases under any Act relating to Crown land issued after the commencement of this Act shall contain a reservation of all gold and minerals on and below the surface of the land comprised therein, and also a reservation of the right of access for the purpose of searching for or working any mines of gold or minerals in any part of the land.
Acts referred to:
Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860, repealed.
Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868, repealed.
Mineral Lands Act of 1872, repealed.
Agricultural Lands Special Purchase Act of 1901, repealed.
7. Private land may be excluded from being subject to mining tenements or permits to enter. (1) The Governor in Council may from time to time by Proclamation published in the Gazette declare and define an area or areas of private land within the State which shall not be subject to a grant or registration under this Act of a mining tenement or a permit to enter and while such Proclamation remains in force, it shall not be lawful to grant or register under this Act, in respect of that area or those areas of private land, a mining tenement or a permit to enter except-
(a) in the case of an application for such a permit, when the purpose of the entry sought is to prospect for coal or petroleum; or
(b) where otherwise provided by this Act.
( 2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section the term
"coal" has the meaning assigned to that term by "The Coal Mining Acts, 1925 to 1964," and the term "petroleum" has the meaning assigned to that term by "The Petroleum Acts, 1923 to 1962."
Substituted by Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 2.
Acts referred to:
Coal Mining Act 1925-1969.
Petroleum Acts, 1923 to 1967.
8. Land may be resumed. ( 1) The Governor in Council may from time to time, under and subject to "The Public Works Land Resumption Act of 1906," resume on behalf of the Crown any land which, in his opinion, ought to be resumed for any of the purposes of this Act, and for the purpose of any such proposed resumption may cause the land to be inspected and reported upon by such officers and workmen as he directs, all of whom may thereupon enter upon the land and carry out all necessary operations.
Upon any such resumption, the owner shall be entitled to compensa- tion, and the amount of such compensation shall be determined in the manner prescribed by the above-mentioned Act.
In assessing the amount of such compensation, no allowance shall be made for any gold or mineral known or supposed to be on or under the land resumed, except in cases where such land is by this Act expressly excepted from the definition of private land so far as relates to mining for mineral or a certain class of mineral, and in all such cases an allowance shall be made for the mineral known or supposed to be on or under the land resumed.
(2) Upon any such resumption, the land so resumed shall belong absolutely to the Crown, and be Crown land subject to the Mining Acts:
Provided that every mining tenement granted in respect of or occupied upon any such land shall, notwithstanding any provision of the Mining Acts to the contrary, be subject to such rent or other payment to the Crown as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.
Act referred to:
Public Works Land Resumption Acts, 1906 to 1955, repealed.
9. Mining tenements. (1) Subject to the Mining Acts, but only after application duly made under this Act, a mining tenement comprising private land may be granted or registered.
(2) Subject to the Mining Acts, the whole or part of two or more parcels of private land which adjoin each other may be included in one mining tenement under this Act.
( 3) Subject to the Mining Acts, private land, together with Crown land or land which is a reserve, or is held as a residence area or business area, or as a lease or special lease granted under section one hundred and eighty-eight of "The Land Act, 1897," as amended by section twenty-one of "The Land Acts Amendment Act of 1905," or under any similar provision of any prior or other Crown Lands Act, may be included in one mining tenement, provided that the whole of the land so included is one block.
Where the right to mine on private land has been acquired before the commencement of this Act, an existing gold-mining leasehold adjoining such land may be enlarged so as to include such private land, notwith- standing that the area of the whole tenement thereby exceeds fifty acres, provided it does not exceed one hundred acres.
Act referred to:
Land Act, 1897; see now Land Act 1962-1968.
10. Exemption of certain private lands. No mining tenement shall be granted or registered in respect of private land if such land is-
(i) Improved land; or
(ii) Of less extent than half an acre within the limits of any city or town or township; or
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 ss. lOA-12 5
(iii) Within one hundred and fifty yards or other less distance to be decided by the warden's court, but not in any case less than fifty yards laterally from any improved land;
unless in each of the above-mentioned cases-
( a) The consent in writing of every owner of the land in question has been first obtained; or
(b) Such grant or registration is limited to such depth from the surface or the lowest part of the surface of the land as the warden's court may in any case decide:
Provided that where private land is being mined and the warden's court determines that the whole of or a specified part of such private land is or is likely to be required for the purpose of the mining operations in connection with the mine on the land, no other mining tenement, except such as may be applied for by the owner of such mine, shall be granted or registered in respect of such private land or specified part thereof, as the case may be.
As amended by Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 3.
lOA. Applicant for mining tenement must hold permit to enter. A mining tenement comprising any private land shall not be granted or registered unless the applicant therefor has been granted a permit under section twelve of this Act to enter upon that private land, and that permit was current when he applied for the mining tenement and also, if the applica- tion includes any area of surface of private land, when he marked out the land in the prescribed manner.
Inserted by Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23, s. 2.
U. Unlawful entry. It shall be unlawful for any person whomsoever, including the owner, to enter, be, or remain upon the surface of any private land for any of the purposes of the Mining Acts, except ~y vir_tue of a permit issued by the warden or by virtue of the grant or reg1strat10n of a mining tenement.
Any person who commits a breach of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon summary conviction therefor to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars.
Substituted by Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23, s. 3.
Decimal currency reference substituted pursuant to section 7 of Decimal Currency Act of 1965.
12. Permits to enter private land. ( 1) A person who desires to enter upon private land for the purposes of the Mining Acts shall make or cause to be made on his behalf application in writing to the warden for a permit to so enter.
( 2) An application made under this section- ( a) shall be in the prescribed form;
(b) may be made by or on behalf of any number of persons not exceeding five;
(c) if it be in respect of more than one parcel of private land, shall include only such parcels as are contiguous and in the ownership of the same owner or owners or, when such private land is land which has not been alienated by the Crown in fee-simple, only such parcels as are contiguous and in the occupation of the same occupier or occupiers;
(d) may be in respect of a total area not exceeding six hundred and forty acres;
(e) shall contain a plan and such description of the private land concerned as will enable the boundaries of such land to be
properly defined;
(f) shall specify the owner or owners of each parcel of private land concerned, or, when such private land is land which has not been alienated by the Crown in fee-simple, the occupier or occupiers of each such parcel; and
(g) shall be accompanied by a filing fee of two dollars.
( 3) (a) When two or more applications are made in respect of or including the same parcel or parcels of private land the warden shall consider each application in the order in which such applications were made to him.
(b) When two or more applications are made simultaneously in respect of or including the same parcel or parcels of private land the warden shall determine the priorities of each such application according to its merit but should it be impossible, in the opinion of the warden, to so determine priorities then the warden shall determine the same by lot.
( 4) (a) Upon being satisfied that an application has been made in good faith, the warden may subject to the provisions of this subsection, grant to the applicant a permit to enter upon the whole or part of the private land the subject of the application.
(b) When the warden determines that a permit should be granted upon an application he shall fix a sum not exceeding ten dollars and shall require the same to be paid to him by the applicant by way of security to compensate the owner or occupier of the private land in respect of which the permit should, in the warden's opinion, be granted for any damage likely to be caused to such owner or occupier by the applicant during the currency of such permit.
The payment of any sum so fixed by the warden shall be a condition precedent to the grant of a permit to the applicant concerned.
(5) A permit granted under this section-
( a) shall be in writing under the hand of the warden;
(b) shall be for a period fixed by the warden but in no case exceeding thirty days;
(c) may be granted to any number of applicants not exceeding five;
(d) shall be given to the applicant or to any one of them.
(6) An applicant to whom a permit has been granted under this section-
( a) may together with his contractors, employees and agents enter upon the private land in respect of which the permit has been granted, or any part thereof, and therein search for gold or mineral;
(b) shall, upon demand made therefor by the owner or occupier of such private land or any of it or the agent for such owner or occupier, produce to the person making such demand the permit in question.
(7) (a) If any damage is sustained by the owner or occupier of private land in respect of which a permit has been granted under this section, which damage is caused by the applicant to whom such permit was granted or by any of his contractors, employees or agents, the warden
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 s.12A 7
shall pay the sum paid to him by way of security under subsection ( 4) of this section, or so much thereof as may be sufficient for the purpose, to such owner or occupier as compensation for the damage severally sustained by them.
No provision of this paragraph shall prejudice the right of such owner or occupier to recover from the person liable therefor the full
amount of damage sustained by him.
(b) Any balance of such sum as aforesaid held by the warden after making payment provided for in paragraph (a) of this subsection or, if no damage be so sustained, the whole of such sum aforesaid, shall be repaid by the warden to the person who paid the same to him.
( 8) During the period for which a permit has been granted under this section it shall not be competent for any person to make an application to a warden for a similar permit in respect of any of the private land the subject of such permit and no warden shall at any time consider any application so made:
Provided that a person to whom a permit has been granted under this section, being the holder of an authority to prospect upon private land the subject of that permit granted under this Act or any other Act, may, at any time within seven days before the expiration of the period of that permit, apply in manner aforesaid to the warden for a further permit in relation to the same private land or any part thereof and the warden may grant to such person a permit in relation to the private land the subject of the application, or any part thereof, which shall commence upon the expiration of the period of the permit existing at the date of such application and be subject to the provisions of this section.
(9) The warden may refuse to grant a permit to any person to whom such a permit has been granted with respect to or including the same private land within a period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of that person's application for such a permit:
Provided that the holder of an authority to prospect granted under this Act, or any other Act, shall, upon his application therefor, be entitled to the grant of a permit to enter upon any private land within the boundaries of the area within his authority to prospect notwithstanding that he may have been granted such a permit with respect to or including the same private land within twelve months immediately preceding the date of his application for such permit.
(10) If the warden refuses, in any case, to grant a permit upon an applicant's application such applicant may, within fourteen days after such refusal, apply in writing to the Minister for such permit.
Substituted by Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 3.
Decimal currency references substituted pursuant to section 7 of Decimal Currency Act of 1965.
12A. Application for and grant of authority to prospect. ( 1) Any person may apply to the Minister in writing for an authority to prospect upon private land for gold or mineral, other than coal or fire clay and mineral oil occurring in the free state and which may be obtained by drilling or wells.
(2) The Minister may grant such an authority to any person so applying in respect of any private land included in such application.
( 3) The Minister may stipulate in relation to such an authority all or any of the following:-
( a) the area to be within the terms of the authority;
(b) the rental, terms and conditions of the authority;
(c) the period during which the authority shall be in force.
( 4) (a) Subject to this Act, and to the payment in advance of the rental stipulated therein and the survey fee, if any, the holder of such an authority may prospect upon all private land within the area shown therein during the period the authority is in force.
(b) The holder of such an authority shall, before he attempts to enter upon any such private land, apply for and obtain a permit to enter in respect of that private land from the warden in accordance with section twelve of this Act.
(c) When a Proclamation under section seven of this Act subsists in respect of any such private land then, for the purposes of paragraph (b) of this subsection, the warden may, subject to this Act other than section seven hereof, grant a permit to enter to such holder notwithstanding such Proclamation.
( 5) If the holder of such an authority fails to comply with any term or condition thereof the authority shall be liable to immediate cancellation by the Minister.
( 6) Within fourteen days of the discovery of gold or mineral by him the holder of such an authority shall report such discovery to the nearest warden who shall forthwith report the same to the Minister.
Upon receipt of such report the Minister may call upon the holder of the authority by notice in writing-
( a) to apply for a lease of a mining tenement in respect of the land wherein or whereon the discovery was made, or of such part thereof as the Minister considers proper; or
(b) to continue his prospecting operations.
If the holder of the authority fails to comply with the Minister's notice within fourteen days of the date thereof, his authority shall be liable to immediate cancellation by the Minister.
(7) When such an authority has been granted in respect of any private land included in a subsisting Proclamation under section seven of this Act, then, notwithstanding such Proclamation, the Governor in Council may, upon application made therefor pursuant to the last preceding subsection or otherwise by the holder of the authority, grant to such holder a lease of a mining tenement in respect of that private land or any part thereof.
Every such application shall be an application for a mining tenement within the meaning of and for the purposes of section thirteen of this Act.
Inserted by Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 4.
13. Applications.. ( 1) Application for a mining tenement situated on private land shall be made in the manner prescribed.
(2) (a) The applicant shall state and describe in his application- (i) any area of surface for which he applies;
(ii) the purpose for which he seeks an area of surface (if any);
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 s.13 9
(iii) subject to the provisions of the next succeeding paragraph, any right of way for which he applies on the private land concerned and therefrom through or upon any other land to a practicable point approved by the Minister on any road, river, waterway, railway station or siding.
(b) It shall not be competent for an applicant to apply for a right of way through or upon any improved land unless he has obtained the consent of the owner of such land to such right of way.
( 3) The applicant shall give, in the manner hereinafter provided in this subsection, notice of such application to-
( a) Any and every owner of the land the subject of the application or of any parcel or portion of that land or of any other land or any parcel or portion of any other land in respect of which any right of way is applied for; and
(b) In any and every case where any land hereinbefore mentioned in this subsection or any parcel or portion thereof is actually occupied by a person other than the owner, that occupier.
In this subsection the term "owner" means, in relation to any land or any parcel or portion of land, the person-
( a) Appearing as the owner of that land, parcel or portion in the subsisting valuation roll under and within the meaning of
"The Valuation of Land Acts, 1944 to 1950," for the Area of the Local Authority within which that land, parcel or portion is situated; or
(b) (In the case of an Area as aforesaid with respect to which there is not in force a valuation under and within the meaning of "The Valuation of Land Acts, 1944 to 1950," and until the first such valuation shall be proclaimed in force) appearing as the owner of that land, parcel or portion in the subsisting valuation register under and within the meaning
of "The Local Government Acts, 1936 to 1951."
Notice required by this subsection to be given to an owner or occupier shall be so given by prepaid registered post letter addressed-
( a) In the case of such an owner, to his address as recorded in the aforementioned valuation roll or, as the case may be, valuation register; and
(b) In the case of such an occupier, addressed to him at the land occupied by him if he resides or carries on business thereon or, if not, then at his address as known to the applicant.
( 4) When the applicant does not apply for any area of surface, it shall not be necessary to mark out the tenement applied for on the surface.
( 5) When his title confers upon the owner of the mining tenement a right to occupy a portion only of the surface thereof, he may at any time make application for an extension of the surface area. Every such application shall be made and dealt with in the same manner as the original application.
( 6) When his title does not confer upon the owner of the mining tenement a right to occupy any portion of the surface thereof, he may at
any time make application for an area of surface within such tenement.
Every such application shall be made and dealt with in the same manner as the original application.
As amended by Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 4; Act of 1954, 3 Eliz. 2 No. 7, s. 2; Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 5.
Acts referred to:
Valuation of Land Acts, 1944 to 1959.
Local Government Act 1936-1969.
14. Cases where no surface applied for. When any person other than the owner of the land applies for a mining tenement in respect of private land and does not apply for any portion of the surface, then, if the consent of such owner has not been obtained, before any such application is granted, the applicant shall prove to the satisfaction of the warden that he possesses-
( a) Adjoining the land applied for, a mining tenement occupied for the purpose of seeking for gold or mineral, or land held in fee-simple not being private land within the meaning of this Act; or
(b) A mining tenement with such way-leaves and other rights through intermediate lands as will enable him to mine in the land applied for.
15. ( 1) Rights of owners and their assigns. Subject to first obtaining a permit under section twelve of this Act to enter thereupon and to that permit being current when he applies under section thirteen hereof the owner of any private land may acquire a mining tenement comprising such land, or of so much thereof as is not already the subject of a mining tenement.
And if, before the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred and ten, the owner or any assignee of the owner makes application for a mining tenement comprising the whole or part of such land, his application, save as hereinafter provided, shall have priority over all others.
( 2) Private agreements. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore or in any other Act to the contrary contained, where, at the commencement of this Act, any person is, by virtue of any conveyance, lease, license, or other private agreement as against the owner of any private land, entitled to mine for gold or mineral on or under such land, then, if before the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred and ten, such person makes application for a mining lease or claim, his application shall have priority over all others, including that of the owner of the land, and notwithstanding any neglect or refusal on the part of such owner to consent to the application.
(3) Saving of certain mining rights. In any case where any parcel of private land is so small in area or is so situated that any gold or other mineral under the land cannot be profitably worked or won from the surface of the land or otherwise than from some neighbouring land, the owner of such private land or the person entitled to mine thereunder by virtue of any conveyance, lease, license, or other private agreement as against the owner of such land may, at any time before the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, in lieu of acquiring a mining tenement consisting of such land, upon a plaint in that behalf, have the value of the gold or other mineral under or supposed to be under the land assessed by the warden's court. Notice of such plaint shall be published as prescribed, and upon the hearing thereof the owner or person
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 ss. 16, 17 11
entitled to mine as aforesaid, and all other persons claiming to be interested as holders of neighbouring mining tenements from which such gold or other mineral could be profitably worked or won, shall be entitled to be heard and to examine and cross-examine witnesses.
The warden's court shall assess the value of such gold or mineral, and thereafter any person who acquires a mining tenement comprising such private land shall not be entitled to mine for such gold or mineral until he has paid to the warden on behalf of the owner of the private land the amount of such assessment.
And the warden shall pay over to such owner the said amount after deducting such sum on account of the costs and expenses of the proceedings as the warden's court shall fix.
As amended by Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23, s. 5.
16. Right to mine, etc. The grant or registration of a mining tenement for the purpose of seeking for gold or mineral on private land shall confer upon the holder thereof-
(i) Where the tenement comprises an area of surface-
(a) The right to mine on or under so much of the surface or extended surface as is stated and described in the lease or certificate of registration, as the case may be; and (b) The right to mine under the remainder, if any, of the
tenement at such depth from the surface or the lowest part of the surface as the warden's court may in any case decide, which depth shall be stated in the lease or certificate of registration, as the case may be; and
(c) A right of ingress and egress to and from the tenement by a right of way to be stated and described in the lease or
certificate of registration, as the case may be;
(ii) Where the tenement does not comprise any area of surface, the right to mine under the whole of the tenement at such depth from the surface or the lowest part of such surface as the warden's court may in any case decide, which depth shall be stated in the lease or certificate of registration, as the case may be.
As amended by Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 5; Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23, s. 6.
17. ( 1) Compensation. Compensation under this Act for the right to occupy and work a mining tenement or for any right of way shall not be payable where the tenement does not comprise any portion of the surface of the private land.
(2) To be paid or agreed upon before mining. So far as regards any private land in respect of which compensation under this Act is payable, the grant or registration of a mining tenement or any renewal thereof shall not confer any rights unless or until the holder thereof has paid or tendered to the persons severally entitled the amount of compensation, if any, determined in the manner prescribed, or made an agreement in writing with every such person as to the payment of compensation, if any.
( 3) Such payment, tender, or agreement shall be certified on the lease by an officer of the Department of Mines authorised by the Minister in that behalf, or on the certificate of registration by the warden.
( 4) If no compensation is payable, that fact shall be so certified.
(5) If any doubt exists as to who are the persons entitled to compensation, or if they or any of them cannot be found, the Minister shall be deemed to represent them, and any such payment may be made to the Minister in trust for all persons entitled.
As amended by Act of 1956, 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23, s. 7; Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 6.
18. ( 1) Power to agree as to compensation. The applicant for any mining tenement situated on private land may agree with the persons severally entitled to compensation as to the amount of such compensation.
Such an agreement shall not have any force or effect or be deemed an agreement as to the payment of compensation within the meaning of this Act unless-
( a) it is in writing;
(b) it is signed by the parties thereto or their agents;
(c) it is filed at the warden's office; and
(d) it is approved by the Minister or such officer of the Department administered by him as the Minister specifies either generally or in a particular case.
Such an agreement shall not be approved by the Minister or such officer if it provides for the payment of an amount of compensation based wholly or in part upon the quantity or value of gold or mineral won or expected to be won from the mining tenement concerned.
( 2) Where no agreement warden to determine compensation. If within such time as may be prescribed the parties are unable to agree upon the amount of compensation to be paid, then either party may, upon a plaint in that behalf, have the amount determined in the warden's court. Either party shall have the right to require that such plaint shall be heard before the warden sitting with three assessors, and in that case the provisions of the Principal Act relating to assessors shall be applicable.
As amended by Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 18.
19. Measure of compensation. ( 1) The compensation to be made under this Act shall be compensation for-
(i) Deprivation of the possession of the surface or of any part of the surface; and
(ii) Damage to the surface or any part thereof, and to any improvements thereon, which may arise from the carrying on of mining operations thereon or thereunder; and
(iii) Severance of the land from other land of the owner or occupier; and
(iv) Surface and underground rights of way; and (v) All consequential damages:
Provided that in determining the amount of compensation no allowance shall be made for any gold or mineral known or supposed to be on or under the land.
(2) In determining the amount of compensation, the warden's court shall take into consideration the amount of any compensation which the owner and occupier or either of them have or has already received for or in respect of the damage for which compensation is being determined, and shall deduct the amount already so received from the amount which they would otherwise be entitled to for such damage.
As amended by Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 6.
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 ss. 20-21A 13
20. Other rights of action not affected. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to take away or prejudicially affect any right of action which any person may have for any loss or damage sustained by him by reason of any mining operations carried on pursuant to the Mining Acts upon private land, other than for loss or damage for which compensation is payable under this Act.
21. Application of general provisions. Save as by this Act is otherwise provided, all the provisions of the Mining Acts shall apply to mining tenements situated upon private land and applications therefor as if they were situated upon Crown land; and aH the powers, authority, and jurisdiction of the warden and of the warden's court, and of every other court having jurisdiction under the Mining Acts with respect to mining on Crown land, shall extend and apply to private land and to mining on or under such land:
Provided that-
(i) No prospecting area which may only be held by the holder of a miner's right, no business area, no market garden area, and no miner's homestead shall be registered or granted in respect of private land.
(ii) An owner of a mining tenement shall not, without the consent of the owner and occupier of the private land whereon the tenement is situated, be entitled to use water artificially conserved by such owner or occupier, or to fell trees, strip bark, or cut timber on such land.
(iii) An owner of a mining tenement shall not have the right to impound any stock belonging to or being the property of, or being in the custody or under the control of, the owner or occupier of any land comprising or adjoining such tenement, or to disturb or molest any such stock in any way whatever, or to prevent any such stock from depasturing on or over any such tenement, unless the land comprised therein is enclosed by a substantial fence.
As amended by Act of 1950, 14 Geo. 6 No. 6, s. 3; Act of 1951, 15 Geo. 6 No. 38, s. 7; Act of 1954, 3 Eliz. 2 No. 7, s. 3.
21A. Further definitions and declarations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act contained, on and after the date of the passing of "The Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925" the following provisions shall have effect:-
( 1) In lieu of the definition of "Mineral as distinguished from gold"
in section four of this Act, the following definition shall be substituted:-
" "Mineral" as distinguished from gold-Aluminium, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, columbium, copper, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, platinum and allied metals, silver, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, zinc, zirconium and the ores of these metals; also agate, amethyst, beryl, chalcedony, chrysoprase, diamond, emerald, garnet, opal, rock crystal, ruby, sapphire, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise, zircon and other precious and semi-precious stones; also actinolite, anthophyllite, alum, apatite, asbestos, barytes, bauxite, calcite, celestite, chalk, chert, chromite, coal, corundum, cryolite, diatomite, dolomite, emery, felspar, fluorspar, fuller's earth, garnet rock, graphite, gypsum, iron oxide, limestone, magnesite, marble, mica, mineral oil, monazite, and other rare earth minerals, natural
gas, oil shale, olivine, perlite and other volcanic glasses, phosphates, pyrite, rock salt, serpentine, silica, steatite, strontianite, sulphur, talc, tremolite, vermiculite, witherite, wollastonite and zeolites; also clays, bentonite, and bentonitic clays, clay shale, fire clay, kaolin, pipeclay, pottery clay, terra-cotta clay and other ceramic, refractory and abrasive minerals; also mineral fertilisers and mineral pigments; also any other substance which the Governor in Council may from time to time by Proclamation published in the Gazette declare to be mineral for the purposes of this Act."
(2) In lieu of the definition of "Private land" in section four of this Act, the following definition shall be substituted, and "Private land"
as so defined shall in all respects be subject to the provisions of this Act:-
" 'Private land' -Land-
( a) which has been alienated by the Crown in fee-simple;
(b) in respect of which a right to a grant by the Crown in fee-simple-
(i) has accrued to any person; or
(ii) will accrue to any person upon the performance by him of a developmental or improvement condition;
(c) an estate in fee-simple in which is being purchased from the Crown:
The term does not include a reserve".
(3) Gold and minerals are the property of the Crown. Subject to this Act, gold and all minerals (subject, however, to the provisions as to coal contained in the second proviso hereinafter contained) on or below the surface of all land in Queensland, whether alienated in fee- simple or not so alienated from the Crown, and if so alienated, whenso- ever alienated, are and each of them is the property of the Crown:
Provided that the aforesaid provisions of this subsection shall not extend and apply in respect of minerals other than gold on or below the surface of land alienated in fee-simple under and pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860," or section thirty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868," or section twenty-one of "The Mineral Lands Act of 1872."
Provided that, subject to the provisions of subsection one of section 33D of "The Coal Mining Acts, 1925 to 1950," coal on or below the surface of land (except land subject to "The Agricultural Lands Special Purchase Act of 1901") which was alienated in fee-simple from the Crown on or before the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and ten, is the property of the grantee of the land or of his successor in interest to the land or to the coal, except where such coal is reserved or included in a reservation to the Crown in the instrument whereby the land was alienated in fee-simple from the Crown when in such case the coal is, and it is hereby declared always was, the property of the Crown.
( 4) Reservations in Crown grants and leases. All Crown grants and leases under any Act relating to Crown land thereafter issued shall contain a reservation of all gold and minerals on and below the surface of the land comprised therein, and also a reservation of the right of access for the purpose of searching for or working any mine for gold or minerals in any part of the land.
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 s.22 15
( 5) Priority to owner in special cases.-
(i) So far as relates to mining for silver upon private land alienated in fee-simple in pursuance of section twenty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1860" or section thirty-two of "The Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1868"
or section twenty-one of "The Mineral Lands Act of 1872";
and
(ii) So far as relates to mining for copper, tin, opal, and antimony upon private land situated within the limits of a goldfield or mineral field and alienated in fee-simple before the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, or upon private land situated elsewhere and alienated in fee- simple before the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and ten; and
(iii) So far as relates to mining for all other minerals (except coal on or below the surface of land subject to "The Agricultural Lands Special Purchase Act of 1901"), upon private land alienated in fee-simple before the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and ten,
if within one year after the date of the passing of "The Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925" the owner or any transferee or assignee of the owner of such private land makes application for a mining tenement comprising the whole or part of such land, his application, save as next hereinafter provided, shall have priority over all others.
Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore or in any other Act to the contrary contained, where at the date of the passing of "The Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925" any person is by virtue of any conveyance, lease, license, or other private agreement as against the owner of any such land entitled to mine for any mineral on or under such land, then if within one year after the date of the passing of the said last~
mentioned Act such person makes application for a mining tenement in respect of such land or part thereof comprised in such conveyance, lease,.
license, or other private agreement, his application shall have priority over all others, including that of the owner of such land, and notwith- standing any neglect or refusal on the part of such owner to consent tD' the application.
Inserted by Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925, s. 4 (ii); as amended by·
Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1927, s. 5; Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1929, s. 5; Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1930, s. 36; Act of 1950, 14 Geo. 6 No. 6,.
s. 4; Act of 1954, 3 Eliz. 2 No. 7, s. 4; Act of 1965, No. 20, s. 8.
Acts referred to:
Mining Acts Amendment Act of 1925.
Agricultural Lands Special Purchase Act of 1901, repealed.
Land Act of 1910; see now Land Act 1962-1968.
Workers' Homes Acts, 1919 to 1925, repealed.
Irrigation Acts, 1922 to 1965.
Sugar Workers' Selections Acts, 1923 to 1926, repealed.
Crown Lands Alienation Acts of 1860 and 1868, repealed.
Mineral Lands Act of 1872, repealed.
Coal Mining Act 1925-1969.
22. Regulations. The Governor in Council may from time to time make·
Regulations for carrying this Act into effect.
The provisions of the Principal Act relating to Regulations shall'.
apply to Regulations made under this Act.
B
THE
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS AMENDMENT ACT of 1956 5 Eliz. 2 No. 23
An Act to Amend "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1954,"
in certain particulars
[Assented to 23 November 1956]
1. ( 1) Short title. This Act may be cited as "The Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1956."
(2) Principal Act. "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1954" are in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.
( 3) Collective title. The Principal Act and this Act may be collectively cited as "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1956."
2.-7. Amended Principal Act.
:8. Subsisting simultaneous applications. The amendment with respect to simultaneous applications made by paragraph (b) of section four of this Act applies with respect to simultaneous applications lodged, but in :respect whereof a permit as applied for has not been granted before the ,date of the passing of this Act, as well as to simultaneous applications lodged on or after that date.
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS, 1909 TO 1965 17
THE
MINING ON PRIVATE LAND ACTS AMENDMENT ACT of 1965 No. 20
An Act to Amend "The Mining on Private Land Acts 1909 to 1956"
in certain particulars
[Assented to 27 April 1965]
1. ( 1) Short title. This Act may be cited as "The Mining on Private Land Acts Amendment Act of 1965."
(2) Principal Act. "The Mining on Private Land Acts 1909 to 1956" are in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.
( 3) Collective title. The Principal Act and this Act may be collectively cited as "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1965."
2.-8. Amended Principal Act.
9. Application of s. 12 of "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1965". The provisions of subsection ( 3) of section twelve of "The Mining on Private Land Acts, 1909 to 1965" apply as well with respect to applications made to a warden before the commencement of this Act but in respect whereof a permit has not been granted or refused at the commencement of this Act as to applications made to a warden after the commencement of this Act.
By Authority: S. G. Reid, Government Printer, Brisbane--1970
