Prospectors on Crown land are required to ensure the least possible damage to land surfaces, including:
- Filling in any disturbances, such as holes, on the surface of the land made while conducting activities that are likely to endanger the safety of any person or animal
- Taking all necessary steps to prevent fire, damage to trees or other property and livestock
- Not obstructing any public thoroughfare or undermine any road, railway, dam or building - endangering public safety
- Not removing any fencing, timber etc previously erected around or placed on an abandoned shaft, ore pit, etc that would render the area unsafe
- Removing rubbish and leaving the area clean and tidy
- if on a pastoral lease, notify pastoralists and any other landowners you are leaving
- if prospecting on a mining tenement, advise tenement holders you have finished.
Prospectors may remove limited samples from Crown land, however, activities such as strip mining (using front-end loaders and bulldozers or similar machinery to strip the surface of soil or vegetation) are not permitted. These types of operations may only be carried out on a granted mining tenement and conditions will be applied that require compliance with the methods of rehabilitation laid down by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (the Department).
Prospectors may pass or re-pass over any Crown land to conduct Miner’s Right activities. However, if prospectors want to pass or re-pass over restricted land or any other Crown land, they must take all reasonable steps to notify Crown land occupiers of their intentions.
Pastoralist notifications
The rights of the pastoralist are very important as they are legal occupiers of the land.
Miner’s Right holders intending to prospect on pastoral leases must take all reasonable and practicable steps to:
- notify pastoralists where they will be and for how long. This ensures the safety of the prospectors if the pastoralist has planned activities (such as mustering, baiting, vermin culling, etc)
- take all necessary steps to prevent fire, damage to trees, other property or livestock
- cause as little inconvenience as possible to pastoralists and restrict the number of passes or re-passes to a minimum
- comply with reasonable requests made by pastoralists about items such water supply for stock, firearms and dogs. Campsites should be kept clean, wear and tear on roads and tracks minimised, and fences and gates not damaged
- repair any damage caused by vehicles to tracks and to lease holder improvements, during the passing and repassing.
You can obtain the address, telephone numbers and email address of pastoralists by contacting any of the Department’s Mining Registrar offices. This is the only authoritative source for this information and is only released under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and the Department of Lands.
Please note: You may be liable for compensation for any damage caused to a pastoralist’s infrastructure, such as fences or roads.
Compensation
Any person holding a Miner's Right is liable to pay compensation in accordance with Section 123 of the Mining Act 1978 (the Act)for any loss or damage caused by that person whilst exercising any right authorised under Section 40D(3) of the Act in respect to any Crown land.
What to do with gold you find
- Minerals are the property of the Crown. If you discover gold or other minerals or gemstones on land not covered by a mining tenement, and the ground is Crown land under the Act, then you are free to keep what you have found as long as you hold a Miner’s Right.
- If you find gold or other minerals on a mining tenement where you have permission to prospect, then these may only be kept with the permission of the mining tenement holder.
- Section 40E Permit holders must advise Exploration Licence holders and the Department of any minerals recovered, within 14 days of permit expiry, cancellation or surrender.
