Staking a claim

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Hi all

I have been reading up on staking a claim in Qld and there is loads of details on how to navigate the bureaucratic madness but not much information on how to get from finding ground to lodging an application. I would greatly appreciate some advice from those who have been through this in the past.

Let's imagine O'l mate is walking through some scrub and comes across some good ground. Is the correct procedure to:

1. record the GPS coordinates of the boundary for where he wants to dig
2. Lodge application as per rules

Or

Is there a step inbetween where:
1. the coordinates are recorded
2. then the physical boundries are marked
3. then the application is lodged

If this is the case, is there regulation on what info is needed on the stakes if any etc. Or does the acctual staking come after the permit is approved?

Or am i completely wrong on everything and apart from providing the coordinates on the application nothing else relating to identifying the claim needs to be done

(I know all about the application process i.e. native title, landholder negotiation, yarda yarda yarda. Just not sure what the first few steps are.)

 

[Lefty]

Gday SC.

I've only been through the process on a designated mining field so I'm not sure of all the differences - I do recall that a small miners claim that is not lodged in a designated fossicking area can be much larger than one staked within a designated fossicking area. In a designated fossicking area such as the Anakie sapphire field, you are restricted to a 30m x 30m patch of ground but I think off a designated field it can be up to 20 hectares. Its is still a small miners claim, not a lease and as such you are still restricted to hand mining - you may use powered equipment such as jackhammers, trommels, pulsators and the like but you may not bring in any powered digging vehicles such as backhoe, bobcat or even a dingo.

From memory, we had a bloke shoot the compass bearings for us, take a GPS coordinate and then I think we had to mark each of the four corners with a temporary marker - I think a small cairn or stones is sufficient - before submitting our application with the DMNR office.

Now I don't mean to put you off but I think it will likely transpire that the time and monetary costs of what you want to do will turn out to be substantial. By far the biggest hurdle is making a Native Title agreement, it can be an excruciatingly long and costly process - we're talking a minimum of a year and thousands of dollars for the agreement and other paperwork to be finalised. The traditional owners themselves see very little of the money - it is almost all accounted for by the legal costs of making an agreement. It is truly a lawyers paradise!!! :awful:

We were able to minimise the costs to a couple of grand because we were part of a batch of applications on the same land and were able to split the costs between all of those staking a claim - by the sounds of it, you will be doing it on your own and so will have to bear the entire cost burden.

Technically, you still have the right to stake a small miners claim in Qld. but the reality is that legal costs surrounding native title have become so onerous that a lot of would-be small miners would be lucky to be able to pony up the dough It's a lousy situation but small miners tend to be fiercely independent individuals who like to work alone with not a lot of drive to stand together (not since the Eureka Stockade at least) and this unfortunately works against us - it naturally results in us having hardly any voice to speak to policy makers.

Anyway, that's my rant over - your situation might not turn out as bad as I've made it sound, I'm just going on my personal experience.

Good luck with it mate!!! Hope you manage to kick it off and clean up!! :Y: :Y: :Y:

If I think of anything else or find some info I might have filed away here I'll pass it on.

Cheers mate

 

[Simmo]

G'day mate.
Lefty has it about right!

Firstly, you need permission to be on the land you are on.
And if it is mineral bearing, you could bet it not only is a pastoral lease, but also has an EPM on it too. You will need permission from all parties, including the governing council.
The easy part is to peg the ground, leaving out land you dont want, and including the land obviously that you do.
You need to include land area for living quarters, supply and tailings dams, workshops etc etc it all has to be within the boundaries of the lease.
The lease boundary pegs need to close, in saying that, starting from a significant natural marker, to a datum post, from post to post with distance and direction, back to the datum. If it doesnt close, they will make you go back and peg it again.

The 'pegs' can indeed be a cairn of rocks, but most miners would use say coppice logs? Painted white. 100mm min wide, 600mm in the ground, 1 mtr above the ground.
One lease we pegged, we used 120mm tin water pipe, screwed to a star picket, then filled with rocks. DME approved it.

Submit your application form, from memory around $1900 application fee.
Make sure that you indicate every mineral that you could possibly find, even if not targeted, on the application. (with the exception of coal and Uranium.)
Your application will need to include financial statements (from your bank or accountant) indicating that you have the funds to mine the lease.
A technical statement will be required, which tells the department that you have the technical knowledge and equipment required to mine the lease.
A rehabilitation statement and quotation. This would come from a third party, who gives you a quote to rehabilitate the lease, should you not be able to do so for some reason.

Now a waiting game, until they give you 'notice to proceed', you then put a copy of your application physically on the datum post, you send a copy to all interested parties, and place a fairly large ad in the paper. ($700??)

Wait again....

No objections?? Good stuff!! Now you 'Opt in' for Native title, if the pegged ground is subject to an Ilua, then the hard work has been done for you, but if not, you will need to engage a mining lawyer, and start RTN (Right to Negotiate.) This will in the end determine the amount of compensation you are to pay the traditional owners.
Once a fee has been decided, the traditional owners and the DME will visit the lease, and inspect the ground for peg compliance, and aboriginal sacred area's.
If all approved, pay the fee and move on. (one of mine was $2700 and they were there for 20 minutes)

Now you need a Cultural Heritage Clearance certificate. (Check if one has ever been done before in your area)
Prices vary, I've had one done at $7000 but been quoted $12,000 for another, until I found a historical document from years earlier.
This clearance will identify any area's of histrical significance and can/will alter your mining plan.

With still more paperwork to do, you now need a Plan of Operations, this will outline how you intend to mine, the amount of ground you intend to move, and how you will rehab it. This report will determine the amount of your bond, (minmum $5000) and will give you your Environmental Authority.

Now you are pretty much done. If everything ticks the right boxes, then the application goes before the Minister and is granted.

Then you will get a bill from the local council for Rates, and the Fire levy (Fire levy can be waived if you dont have any gear on the lease). Fire levy is like $750.
Then you will get a bill from the DME for rent, payable per hectare.
Then you will get a bill from the EPA for your EA.
Countless forms such as royalty reports and rehab statements to fill in.
Then you wil get a bill from the pastural lease holder and the Traditional owners for compensation.

Then you can go sit back on your piece of paradise and hope there's gold on it!!

Sorry for the long winded post, but hope this helps?!!

 

[Lefty]

You could almost be forgiven for thinking that they don't understand (or care) about the generally accepted meaning of the term "small miner" and view anyone wanting to peg a small miners claim and have a bit of a scratch outside a designated mining field (or even inside one it felt like to me!) as a full-scale commercial mining operation, with the financial resources to boot.

 

[Gilly47]

very interesting advice Gents

ray

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Thanks guys. Sooo im guessing first step is coordinants and compassing. Next is pegging the boundry. Then start with the madness?

I was talking to an ol timer the other day and he said the first one is the worst. After that things are a lot easier.

 

[Lefty]

Yeah mate, I tbink you've got the order right there :Y:

Again, it might pay to get some advice first on what the overall costs will actually likely be.

Good to see you're not easily put off anyway! :Y: If no kne is prepared to face the madness, small scale gem mi ing in this country will die out, despite the huge swathes of promising geology. That would be a tradgedy.

Again, if it's a claim not a lease then it can still be a big area and cost less than a lease. Thjnk you have a DMNR office in Mareeba?

Cheers mate

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Yeah mate. Still a lot of work to do before even thinking of lodging a claim. I collected a heap of samples from a trip out to a station recently. Still have to get them essayed and others identified.

Still got negotiations with the station owners and a heap of other things to get through first. Hard work but one can only live in hope.

 

[Simmo]

It might also be prudent to point out that there are companies, like AMETS, in Mareeba, that will organise all this stuff for you, obviously for a fee.
They have called me before to quote on pegging and plotting.
And your old mate is right.... the first one is very stressing, after that it does get easier, as long as you keep up with the rules as they change.
If you are in the NQ area, then joining the NQMA could help you with a lot of issues.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Hi simmo

Thanks for the advice mate. Ill look into them. Any help is always appreciated. Even if i have to pay for it lol

 

[Simmo]

Sing out bud. Any time.. I dont know all the answers, I dont know much about rocks.....
I know more about the one in my Avatar... :goldnugget: than the one in yours!!
(I've prolly thrown out diamonds :gemstone: in my launder, coz its just quartz.. )