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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australia government’s resource industry environmental reform programme has already delivered mining industry efficiencies by cutting exploration application assessment times, Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion reported this week.
Marmion said that the average times for programme of work, mining proposal and native vegetation clearing permit assessments by the Department of Mines and Petroleum had decreased since the Reforming Environmental Regulation programme was introduced.
“The July 2012 introduction of online lodgment for Programme of Work-Exploration applications has cut assessment times by 40%. From an average of 45 days, we're now down to 28 days and I am confident there could be further reductions,” Marmion said.
Along with the supply of better guidance material and improved customer support, online lodgment has minimised the need for department assessors to go back to proponents to get further information, or to reject incomplete applications.
The Minister noted that since this change, the average number of days an application had to be delayed while applicants had to supply further information had dropped from 21 days in 2013 to nine days in 2015.
“These figures show that the exploration industry is now more familiar with the system and is reaping the efficiency dividends. As the department continues to phase out paper-based lodgment, processing timeframes should continue to decrease.”
Marmion said the roll-out of 'smart forms' for mining proposal and mine closure plan applications in 2016 would also see further improvements.