PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland state government on Monday announced an overhaul of the approvals process for coal and mineral exploration in the region, aimed at giving landholders and resources companies more certainty by allowing for faster approvals.

Natural Resources and Mines Minister Andrew Cripps said the new process had the potential to halve the time taken for companies to be granted exploration permits, while maintaining rigorous environmental, native title and land access assessments.

“We have listened to requests from the resources sector for faster, more efficient approval timeframes and we are delivering,” he said.

“Mining is one of the key pillars of the Queensland economy and streamlining this process will let resource companies get on with business. For example, the more streamlined process means exploration permits subject to native title can be decided in less than 12 months, while permits not subject to native title can be determined in six months or sooner.”

The Minister stated that this was a significant improvement on the average 22 months it currently took for an exploration permit application to be processed to the stage where it could be granted or rejected.

Cripps said the new approach was also good news for rural landholders in their negotiations with resource companies.

“It means mining companies no longer need to wait until an exploration permit is granted before engaging with landholders about their proposed exploration activities,” he said.

“Those discussions can now happen much earlier, giving rural producers more time to consider and negotiate land access and conduct and compensation agreements put to them by resource companies.”

He pointed out that exploration applications would still be subject to the same stringent assessment process to ensure they met strict environmental, technical and commercial viability, community interest, native title and land access requirements.

“A granted exploration permit is not a right to mine, and the Queensland Resources Council estimates that approximately only one in every 200 granted exploration permits ever goes on to become a mine.”


Under the new process companies would be formally advised within 90 days of lodgement whether their proposed exploration works programme for a project has been approved or rejected.

For successful applications not subject to native title, once a work programme had been approved and an environmental authority had been issued, a permit could be granted after annual rent had been paid.

For applications subject to native title, it meant companies could start required native title processes and engage landholders about conduct and compensation arrangements a lot sooner, and these permit applications could then be finalised within 30 days of the native title process being concluded.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) welcomed the reform, saying the changes were a great leap forward for explorers.

Acting CEO Greg Lane noted that the changes would save time, money and relieve uncertainty for industry participants.

“As well as being able to better plan their exploration programmes, it gives our Queensland explorers more time to consult with landholders and local governments, so when the tenure is granted, they can get started immediately.”

Lane noted that while it was a simple change in process, it could revolutionise how Queensland explorers operated.

“Providing more time for constructive discussions with stakeholders will allow the good operators to start building good working relationships before they even have tenure granted.”