Valuer-General v Perilya Broken Hill Ltd

The Valuer-General appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the Land and Environment Court concerning the valuation of a mining operation. The dispute centred on the proper method for valuing a hypothetical fee simple of the mine, particularly in light of royalty provisions under the *Mining Act 1992* (NSW).

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Land and Environment Court had erred in law by failing to bring to account the cashflows associated with royalty payments, and whether the Land and Environment Court had erred in law by providing insufficient reasons for its decision. The Court also considered the nature of rights conferred by mining leases and the rights of owners of privately owned minerals in the context of valuation.

The Court of Appeal found that the Land and Environment Court had made an error of law by failing to properly consider the cashflows related to royalty payments in its valuation. While the parties had included royalty payments as expenses in their cashflows, they had not accounted for receipts of royalty for privately owned minerals. The Court held that this omission constituted a failure to bring to account relevant cashflows, which was an error of law. However, the Court found no error of law in the Land and Environment Court's provision of reasons, deeming them sufficient for the purposes of an appeal limited to questions of law.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal allowed the Valuer-General's appeal, set aside the orders of the Land and Environment Court, and remitted the proceedings back to that Court for redetermination in accordance with the Court of Appeal's decision. There were no orders as to the costs of the appeal.