Small Scale Regional Mining Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Dja Dja Wurrung and PMAV) |
| Date: | 22 February 2010 | |
| Sub Category: | Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act) |
| Place: | Bendigo |
| State/Country: | Victoria, Australia |
| The ILUA area extends over approximately 16,780 square kilometres of land and waters located around 9 kilometres north of Ballarat. It encompasses the areas of Bendigo, Castlemaine and Maryborough. The ILUA area excludes those areas that are the subject of either the Yorta Yorta Determination or the Wotjobaluk Jaadwa Jadawadjali Wergaia and Jupagulk Peoples No. 1 Determination. It also excludes those areas that are subject to either the Wotjobaluk People Determination Application, the Dja Dja Wurrung Determination Application, or the Dja Dja Wrung/Whurung People Determination Application. |
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| Legal Status: | Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements on 22 February 2010. This is an Area Agreement under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). | |
| Legal Reference: | National Native Title Tribunal File No. VI2008/006. | |
| Subject Matter: | Exploration | Mining and Minerals | Native Title |
| URL: | http://www.nntt.gov.au/Indigenous-Land-Use-Agreements/Search-Registered-ILUAs/ILUA%20Register/2008/VI2008.006/ILUARegisterExport.pdf | |
| Summary Information: | |
| The Small Scale Regional Mining ILUA was agreed between:
- The Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Group; and
- Prospectors & Miners Association of Victoria Incorporated.
The purpose of this ILUA is to provide conditional consent for the grant of any Mining Licence by the State to a miner, as well as the use of that licence by the miner. |
| Detailed Information: | |
| Application of this ILUA
This ILUA applies to all proposed mining tenements of five hectares or less which fall within the ILUA area.
Consent to future acts
Pursuant to this ILUA, the parties consent to the following:
- the grant by the State of Victoria of a Mining Licence to a miner pursuant to the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (Vic). This includes the provision of any associated consents required pursuant to the Mining Licence; and
- the use of that Mining Licence. This includes the provision of any associated consents required under the Mining Licence.
Conditions for the provision of consent
Before consent can be provided, the miner must sign a Deed of Assumption, which represents their agreement to be bound by this ILUA.
In signing the Deed of Assumption, the miner also agrees to be bound by certain Land Use Conditions. These conditions are outlined in Schedules 2 and 3 of this ILUA (available at http://www.ntsv.com.au/document/ILUA.pdf). The conditions include:
- the provision by the miner of all work plans to a Cultural Heritage Monitor, who will be nominated by the Cultural Heritage Coordinator (appointed pursuant to the ILUA); and
- an undertaking not to hinder the entry, use or occupation of any part of the ILUA area by members of the claimant group.
Typically, a licence will be awarded for a duration of 5 years. In such a case, the miner must also pay a mining licence fee of $2,500 (not including GST). Where the licence is awarded for any period of time other than 5 years, the licence fee shall be calculated at $500 per year.
Inspection provisions
Once a license is granted, the parties agree that a monitor on behalf of the native title claimants will be entitled to conduct an inspection of the proposed mining area. A fee of $495 will be payable for this service.
Right to negotiate provisions
The parties agree that the right to negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) do not apply to any of the future acts to which consent has been granted pursuant to this ILUA.
Native title in the ILUA area
The ILUA area extends over land and waters that are subject to four native title claims by the Dja Dja Wurrung people and one claim by the Wotjobaluk People. Out of these claims, three have been specifically excluded from the operation of this ILUA (see above). Therefore, the ILUA area overlaps with the remaining two claims:
- the Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples claimant application (Federal Court File No. VID6001/00); and
- the Dja Dja Wurrung People claimant application (Federal Court File No. VID6003/99).
Both of these claims are currently in mediation.
Under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), any activity that may affect native title rights is defined as a ‘future act’ and must comply with the future act provisions of the Act in order to be valid. This ILUA entitles the parties to circumvent these provisions.
This ILUA follows on from the Low Impact Exploration and Exploration, Dja Dja Wurrung
ILUA (VI2004/005), which was previously negotiated by the Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Group and registered on the National Native Title Tribunal Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements on 5 May 2006. This ILUA differs from the Low Impact Exploration and Exploration, Dja Dja Wurrung ILUA in that it only deals with small scale mining. However, both ILUAs cover approximately the same area. | |
