The Department of Mines and Petroleum’s (DMP) continuing high level of mineral title approvals during the first quarter of the year has been accompanied by an increase in mineral exploration licence applications in Western Australia.
Mines and Petroleum Minister Sean L’Estrange said the number of licence applications had grown from 466 in the first quarter of 2015 to 541 this quarter.
“It’s a modest increase of about 16 per cent, but any growth is an encouraging sign as we move on from the commodities price downturn,” Mr L’Estrange said.
“I am also pleased the Liberal National Government is keeping pace with its previous best-ever quarter for mineral titles approvals, which was the December quarter last year.
“Once again, we have surpassed the target of finalising more than 80 per cent of applications within target timelines.”
During the first quarter of this year, the department approved:
- 97 per cent of mineral prospecting licence applications within 65 business days
- 99 per cent of mineral exploration Programme of Work applications within 30 business days
- 100 per cent of petroleum pipeline licence applications within 90 business days.
The Minister credited the improvement to the department’s drive into online approvals processing as part of its commitment to conduct all of its transactions online by July this year.
Fact
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DMP received 5,629 mineral title, exploration and mining activity applications during 2015, with 97% finalised within the timeline target of 65 business days
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DMP finalised 2,459 Programme of Work and Mining Proposals during this period, with 95% finalised within the timeline target of 30 business days
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100% of Petroleum Exploration Permit applications were finalised within the target timeline of 120 business days
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Of the 374 petroleum environment plans and oil spill contingency plans submitted, 97% were finalised within 30 calendar days
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DMP also finalised 100% of resource safety Project Management Plan approvals and 85% of Radiation Management Plans within the 30 business day timeframes