Re Barrick (Osborne) Pty Ltd

The matter before the Land Court of Queensland is an application by Barrick (Osborne) Pty Ltd under section 245 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 for a mining lease over land located approximately 160 km south-east of Mt Isa and 42 km north-west of Osborne Mine. The application was made for the purpose of mining for copper, cobalt, gold, magnetite, iron ore, lead, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and rare earth elements for a term of 20 years. The application was filed on 29 January 2008, and no objections were lodged before the closing date for objections, which was 15 January 2010.

The primary legal issues that the court had to address were whether the application complied with the requirements of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 and whether the proposed mining operations would be an appropriate use of the land. The court had to consider the statutory criteria outlined in section 269(4) of the Act, which include whether the provisions of the Act were complied with, the mineralisation of the land, the level of development and utilisation of the mineral resources, the size and shape of the land, the appropriateness of the term sought, the financial and technical capabilities of the applicant, the past performance of the applicant, the impact on existing exploration permits or mineral development licences, the conformity with sound land use management, potential adverse environmental impacts, the impact on public rights and interests, and whether there was any good reason to refuse the grant of the mining lease.

The court found that the applicant had complied with the provisions of the Act, and the land was generally mineralised for the minerals sought. The court was satisfied that there would be an acceptable level of development and utilisation of the mineral resources, and the size and shape of the land were appropriate. The term of 20 years was deemed appropriate, and the applicant had the necessary financial and technical capabilities to carry out the proposed mining operations. The court found no evidence of unsatisfactory past performance by the applicant, and there were no existing exploration permits or mineral development licences that would be adversely affected. The operations were considered to conform to sound land use management, and there were no adverse environmental impacts, nor any prejudice to public rights and interests. Consequently, the court recommended the grant of the mining lease.

In light of the findings and recommendations, the Judicial Registrar ordered that the hearing of the application be dispensed with and recommended to the Honourable the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade that the Mining Lease No. 90187 be granted over the whole of the application area for a term of 20 years.