Willie & Ors v Crisal Pty Ltd

The applicants, Rudolph Wille and others, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia concerning a decision made by the Mining Warden of the Pilbara and the West Pilbara Mineral Fields. The dispute arose from an application for a prospecting licence by the respondents, Crisal Pty Ltd and Tectonic Systems Pty Ltd. The applicants had sought leave to object to this application out of time, arguing that the respondents had not properly pegged out the area. The Mining Warden dismissed the applicants' request for leave to object and subsequently granted the prospecting licence application without hearing evidence or argument from the applicants. The applicants contended that this process did not constitute a proper hearing.

The High Court was required to determine two primary legal issues. The first was whether the Mining Warden's conduct in dealing with the prospecting licence application satisfied the requirement to hold a hearing into the application. The second, which could be subdivided, concerned whether the Warden considered and sought evidence on the question of proper marking-out requirements. The applicants also sought to have an area excised from their exploration licence reinstated, effectively seeking the issue of an exploration licence without the excision.

The applicants argued that the Warden's decision to grant the prospecting licence without allowing them to object and without hearing evidence or argument meant that no proper hearing had occurred. They submitted that the Warden had failed to satisfy the procedural fairness requirements by not considering the question of proper marking-out and not inviting evidence on that crucial aspect. The applicants' objective was to have the prospecting licence application reconsidered in light of the decision in *Hunter Resources v Melville*, with the aim of preventing the excision of the area from their existing exploration licence.