exploration lease within nsw state forest

[hopeless]

Down south coast way stumbled across an active exploration lease fenced off with warnings about 24 hour surveillance. Did my best to avoid going on there but after clearing a fire trail of fallen trees with the trusty chainsaw managed to drive straight in to this blokes mining operation (completely unintentional).

Anyway he was running a sizeable trommel setup feeding it with a mini backhoe.
Fair to say he wasn't pleased with us being there and basically told us to leave straight away and made it clear we were on camera and trespassing?????

The thing is we were in a state forest with permits to be there.
an exploration lease doesn't give you ownership of state forest land does it.

Does it give him the right to fence off fire trails with locked gates after a couple of minutes he warmed up a bit and was civil but am I right in saying that he could be bluffing don't get me wrong not trying to start trouble but just want to make sure I wasn't doing the wrong thing.

Does an exploration license allow you to run dirt on site through a plant everything I have researched suggests that he may be the one doing the wrong thing.

Can someone clarify this as I'm an absolute newbie.

cheers

 

[shivan]

Technically if the EL is not in a fossicking district then permission from the EL holder is ment to be gained......
"What consents/permissions do I need?
for private land the permission of the landholder;
for Crown land that is managed, controlled or under trusteeship - the permission of the
trustee or manager of that public or local authority. To fossick on these lands the consent of
the appropriate authority (e.g. Land and Property Management Authority, Forests NSW, local
council, Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, Trustees of Commons) is required.
Information about the ownership or status of land can be obtained from local councils or the
Land and Property Management Authority. You can contact Forests NSW (a division of
Industry & Investment NSW) for information about State forest land;
for land held under a lease, licence or permissive occupancy under the Crown Lands Act
1989, the Crown Lands (Continued Tenures) Act 1989 or the Western Lands Act 1900 - the
permission of the lessee, licensee or occupant. Information about the ownership and status
of land may be sought from local councils or the Land and Property Management Authority;
2 for land that is covered by an exploration licence, assessment lease, mining lease, mineral
claim or opal prospecting licence under the Mining Act 1992 the permission of the
titleholder. However, permission is not required from the holder of an exploration licence
where the licence is affected by a Fossicking District. Information regarding the location of
titles and fossicking districts can be obtained from Industry & Investment NSWs Maitland,
Orange and Lightning Ridge offices or by searching the TASMap facility:
http://www.minerals.nsw.gov.au/tasmap/;
where native title rights and interests in land or waters have been determined to exist under
the Commonwealths Native Title Act 1993 - the permission of the relevant registered native
title body. For information about registered native title claims in NSW go to:
http://www.nntt.gov.au/Native-Title-In-Australia/Pages/ACT-New-South-Wales.aspx.\"

That being said, in NSW I thought an EL only allowed exploration to prove that an economic deposit was viable, running a trommel does not seem like exploration but i could be wrong

 

[hopeless]

Thanks shivan

I was definitely in a fossicking area within a state forest and you came to the same conclusion I did about the setup.
like I said not trying to cause trouble but don't like being told I'm doing the wrong thing when from what I have researched it could very well be him that is doing the wrong thing.
He was a nice enough guy and probably well known in the industry from what he told me.

But he was definitely finding the yellow!

 

[trashmagnet]

g'day
they have no right to stop you walking or driving through there el in state forest's regardless of fossicking area or not unless there drilling, then they can only stop you from going near there drilling rigs on safety grounds.
detecting on there el is different to walking or driving through it.
regards trashy

 

[shivan]

I was definitely in a fossicking area within a state forest

There is a big difference between a fossicking area and fossicking district unfortunatly. Just because fossicking is allowed in that part of state forrest does not make it a fossicking district.
There are only 8 fossicking districts in NSW Inverell shire, Severn shire (Glen innes area), Barraba shire, Nundle shire, Young shire, Tallaganda shire (Braidwood/Oallen area), Coomamonaro shire and Tumbarumba shire. None of these really cover the south coast.

like I said not trying to cause trouble but don't like being told I'm doing the wrong thing when from what I have researched it could very well be him that is doing the wrong thing

It does sound like he is doing slightly more than exploration, as excavation with a bobcat would have environmental impacts as well as remediation that would be needed, i would think?
Looking at the titles map i do not see any EL's till down Moryua till Bodalla but there is a small ML there as well, then another EL south of Pambula. If it was anywhere else near the coast they may have been pulling your leg about having a EL at all?

 

[Guest]

If you are in NSW:

An exploration licence gives the licence holder the exclusive right to explore for petroleum or for specific minerals or petroleum within a designated area, but does not permit mining, nor does it guarantee that a mining or production lease will be granted.

But.....................

Bulk sampling operations
Prior to making a decision to apply to develop a mine, an explorer may extract a bulk sample of the material to be mined to allow further testing and refinement of the proposed mining procedures. Extraction of a bulk sample in NSW requires approval from NSW Trade & Investment-Division of Resources & Energy (DRE). Large samples may also require approval from the Department of Planning & Infrastructure.

If he has an agreement in place with State Forests NSW then it is possible he has every right to fence the area off & not permit people onto the agreed area. There are areas within State Forests that are off limits to fossicking - most should be marked on the online maps.
Also if he has the correct approvals as per above he may also have every right to be "bulk sampling" as per above. I don't think this is uncommon in areas of shallow gold where drilling is of little use?

 

[dazza513]

over the years i've found nsw state forests sorta belonging to the highest bidder, cattel men and logging/slepper makers fencing and locking up large area's for their own use, when quized about the legality of it they bang up a heap of new signs provided by dpi,dse,dnre,parks among others.