Re Wilkins

Maxwell John Wilkins and Robert James Wilkins applied for a mining lease over a parcel of land south-west of Winton for a period of 15 years for the purpose of mining barium, calcite, clay, and gypsum. The application was made under Section 245 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 and was lodged on 16 June 2009. The Registrar issued a Certificate of Application on 3 August 2009. No objections were lodged by the closing date of 18 September 2009. The applicants requested that the matter be dealt with on the papers by a member sitting alone. The court had to decide whether the provisions of the Act had been complied with, whether the land was mineralised or the other 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 was 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, and if so, the extent thereof, whether the public right and interest would be prejudiced, whether any good reason had been shown for a refusal to grant the mining lease, and whether the proposed mining operation was an appropriate land use taking into consideration the current and prospective uses of the land. The court considered that the provisions of the Act had been complied with, the land was mineralised, there would be an acceptable level of development and utilisation of the mineral resources within the area applied for, the size and shape of the land was appropriate, the term sought was appropriate, the applicants had the necessary financial and technical capabilities to carry on mining operations under the proposed mining lease, the past performance of the applicants had been satisfactory, there would be no disadvantage to the holders of existing exploration permits or mineral development licences or existing applicants for exploration permits or mineral development licences, the operations to be carried on under the authority of the mining lease would conform to sound land use management, there would be no adverse environmental impacts, the public right and interest would not be prejudiced, there were no grounds which would justify a refusal of the application, and the proposed mining operation was an appropriate land use taking into consideration the current and prospective uses of the land. The court recommended that the Honourable the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade grant the Mining Lease over the whole of the application area for the purpose and term sought by the applicants. The court dispensed with a hearing of the application. The court recommended that Mining Lease No. 95622 be granted over the whole of the application area for a term of 15 years to Maxwell John Wilkins (50%) and Robert James Wilkins (50%).