Statement of Interest

A company which has not reached the stage of making formal application for a Prospecting Licence may establish its interest in an area with the Exploration and Mining Division by written submission of a "Statement of Interest" on the standard form.  A company may not hold more than twenty (20) Statements of Interest at any one time. 

A Statement of Interest will normally relate to open ground or areas open for application at any time and for which the company intends to make a formal application following reconnaissance surveys. During the reconnaissance stage, only work of a desk study nature may be carried out i.e. work which is designed to assist the company in the selection of areas for which application will be made.

A company which holds a current Prospecting Licence for certain minerals is deemed to have a standing Statement of Interest for all other minerals in that area. This Statement of Interest will remain valid for as long as the Prospecting Licence is held.

In the event of there being, subsequently, a Prospecting Licence application for an area (or part of an area) held under the Statement of Interest, the company that holds the Statement of Interest will be notified that an application has been received. No other details will be provided. It will then be open to that company to apply for a Prospecting Licence over the area or part of the area covered by the Statement of Interest. Application must be made within two weeks of notification. Failure to reply by that date will be taken as a withdrawal of the Statement of Interest. If an application is made, the original applicant will be notified, and is entitled to submit a revised application. If the applications overlap, then they will be considered on their respective merits without regard to the fact that one application had been received prior to the other. It should be noted that more than one company may hold a Statement of Interest over a particular area; however, no action will be taken on these Statements of Interest until a formal application for a Prospecting Licence has been received.

A Statement of Interest is valid for six months. Once the Statement of Interest ceases to be valid after six months, it may not be renewed unless exceptional circumstances are recognised by the Exploration and Mining Division and approved by prior agreement.

On registering a Statement of Interest with the Exploration and Mining Division, the reasons for such interest should be given. If the interest is based on the fact that the company is carrying out reconnaissance work, the results of this work should be included with any subsequent Prospecting Licence application (in so far as the results would be relevant to the application). These results will be treated as confidential until such time as the company agrees otherwise, and will be used only to assist the Exploration and Mining Division in making a recommendation on competing applications.

Neither the acceptance by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment of an application for a Prospecting Licence (or other facility), nor the acceptance by the Exploration and Mining Division of a Statement of Interest should be regarded as in any way binding on the Minister. The Minister may at his discretion accept or reject any application for any State prospecting or development facility.