Re Vinnicombe

This is an application by John Griffith Vinnicombe and Jennifer Elizabeth Vinnicombe under section 245 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (the Act) for a mining lease over land described in the application near Arch Mine, Vergemont for the purpose of mining for opal for a term of 10 years. The application was lodged at the office of the Mining Registrar at Winton on 13 June 2008. No objection was lodged before the closing date for objections, which was 28 September 2008. The Judicial Registrar was satisfied that the provisions of part 7 of the Act had been complied with in respect of the application and that the material supplied by the applicants and the Mining Registrar addressed each of the criteria that the Registrar must consider in making a recommendation on the application. The applicants requested that the matter be dealt with on the papers by a member sitting alone, and the Registrar ordered that a hearing of the application be dispensed with.

The Judicial Registrar considered the criteria specified in section 269(4) of the Act, including whether the provisions of the Act had been complied with, whether the land applied for was mineralised or the purposes for which the lease was sought were appropriate, whether there would be an acceptable level of development and utilisation of the mineral resources within the area applied for, whether the size and shape of the land and surface area were appropriate, whether the term sought was appropriate, whether the applicants had the necessary financial and technical capabilities to carry on mining operations under the proposed mining lease, whether the past performance of the applicants had been satisfactory, whether any disadvantage would result to the holders of existing exploration permits or mineral development licences or existing applicants for exploration permits or mineral development licences, whether the operations to be carried on under the authority of the mining lease would conform to sound land use management, whether there would be any adverse environmental impacts, whether the public right and interest would be prejudiced, and whether any good reason had been shown for a refusal to grant the mining lease. The Registrar was satisfied that the applicants had met each of these criteria.

The Judicial Registrar recommended that the Minister for Mines and Energy grant the Mining Lease No. 95591 to John Griffith Vinnicombe (50%) and Jennifer Elizabeth Vinnicombe (50%) over the whole of the application area for a term of 10 years. The Registrar ordered that a hearing of the application be dispensed with and that the matter be dealt with on the papers by a member sitting alone.