Re Vinall

In the Land Court of Queensland, George Robert Vinall applied for a mining lease under Section 245 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989, seeking to mine for opal over 1.6165 hectares of land in the Winton area. The application was lodged on 22 June 2007 and no objections were lodged by the closing date of 11 September 2007. The court was required to decide whether to dispense with a hearing and to consider the criteria specified in Section 269(4) of the Act in making a recommendation on the application.

The Judicial Registrar, Mr. BR O’Connor, decided to dispense with a hearing, as he was satisfied that the provisions of the Act had been complied with and that the criteria in Section 269(4) had been met. The Registrar found that the area applied for was generally mineralised and that the applicant had the necessary financial and technical capabilities to carry on mining operations. The proposed mining operation was deemed to be an appropriate land use, and there were no objections or evidence suggesting that the application should be refused. The Registrar recommended that the Mining Lease be granted over the whole of the application area for the purposes and term sought by the applicant.

The final orders were to dispense with a hearing and to recommend that the Mining Lease be granted over the whole of the application area for the purposes and term sought by the applicant. The Registrar's recommendation would now be forwarded to the Honourable the Minister for Mines & Energy for consideration.