Where you can prospect with a Miner’s Right

Miner’s Rights holders can prospect on:

• Unallocated or vacant Crown land not covered by a granted mining tenement
• Crown land that is the subject of a pastoral lease, a diversification lease or lease for grazing and timber and is not covered by a granted mining tenement, provided notification is given to the lessee
• Mining tenements, provided you have written permission from the tenement holder
• Granted exploration licences provided you have a Section 40E Permit. These permits provide access to nominated Crown land areas on granted exploration licences, described as graticular blocks. Permits are valid for three months and only allow the use of handheld tools.

Crown land

• Crown land means all land except land that has been reserved or dedicated for a public purpose, land within a townsite, freehold land or land leased for purposes other than a pastoral lease, a grazing lease, a lease for timber purposes, or a lease for the use and benefit of Aboriginal inhabitants.
• Land reserved for mining or commons (land or resources belonging to or affecting the whole of a community) and land reserved or dedicated for public utility is also Crown land and includes pastoral lease land, vacant Crown land and some reserved lands (common, public utility and mining).

Protection of crown land

Specified categories of Crown land are protected. 

Without the consent of the occupier of any Crown land, or otherwise without the direction of a Warden, a Miner’s Right holder cannot prospect or fossick on Crown land that is:

• under crop or within 100 metres thereof;
• used or situated within 100 metres of a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field, orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield;
• situated within 100 metres of any land that is in actual occupation and on which a house or other substantial building is erected;
• the site of or within 100 metres of any cemetery or land reserved or demarcated exclusively for the purpose of burials; or
• land that is the subject of a pastoral lease which is the site of, or within 400 metres of the outer edge of, any water works, race, dam, well or bore, not being an excavation previously made and used for mining purposes by a person other than the pastoralist.

Nothing prevents the holder of a Miner’s Right from passing and repassing over the protected Crown land described above to access available land for the purpose of prospecting or fossicking.

Entry onto pastoral leases

Miner's Right holders may not pass or re-pass over any private or reserved land (except where the reserve purpose is a common, mining or public utility) to gain access to any other Crown land for the purpose of conducting Right activities. Before doing so, Miner's Right holders shall take all reasonable and practicable steps to notify pastoralists of intentions. When passing or re-passing, holders must: 

• take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of fire, damage to trees or other property, and damage to any property or livestock by the presence of dogs, the discharge of firearms, the use of vehicles or otherwise
• cause as little inconvenience as possible and comply with reasonable pastoralist requests when passing and re-passing
• restrict the number of passes or re-passes to the minimum necessary for the purpose of mining on or marking out other land
• make good any damage caused to improvements or livestock.

Areas where prospecting is not allowed

National parks, nature reserves, within town sites or other classified reserves

You cannot prospect on national parks, nature reserves, within town sites or other classified reserves such as cemeteries. A Permit to Enter is required to search for any mineral on private property (farmland). The permit can be issued by the department. Contact with the landowner should be made before entry.

Access to land subject to native title 

A Miners Right does not provide a holder with a lawful right to access land subject to exclusive possession native title rights. In circumstances where exclusive possession native title exists, a Miners Right holder must seek the permission of the relevant native title party before entering.

Noting, Pursuant to s104 Mining Act 1978, entry onto land, including native title land, is permitted for the purposes of surveying, marking out or posting notices in connection with an application for a mining tenement.

Other locations prospecting is not allowed

• On land within 400 metres of the outer edge of any water works, race, dam, well or bore
• On land within 100 metres of: land under crop; a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field, orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield
• On land within 100 metres of occupied land on which there is a house or other substantial building
• On land within 100 metres of the site of any cemetery or burial ground unless you have the written consent of the pastoralist/ landowner.

If written approval is not obtained from the pastoralist, the prospector is in breach and can be subject to fines under the Mining Act 1978, or compensation may be payable to the pastoralist for damage to improvements and livestock on the land. Compensation may be agreed between the parties or can be determined by the Mining Warden.