Minerals and the Environment
The Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR) has four main roles in relation to the minerals and the environment:
- To assess and make recommendations on the environmental management associated with exploration and mining proposals
- To liaise with industry and the community on environmental management of the mining industry
- To set and ensure compliance with environmental conditions during exploration and production for the mining and petroleum industries. These may be set at the time a tenement is granted or when a specific activity is approved
- To co-operate with other government agencies in the development of Western Australia's conservation estate to ensure that while land of high conservation is protected, land is not unnecessarily excluded from exploration and development activity
Environmental officers are appointed to oversee and monitor the environmental management performance of the minerals industry on Mining Act 1978 (WA) tenements.
Officers are allocated specific mineral fields as shown on the Environmental Regional Inspectorate Map. All enquiries regarding environmental management and requirements of minerals operations for a specific mineral field should be referred to the officer responsible for that field. Contact numbers are provided on the map or you can refer to the contacts page.
Western Australia has some of the world's best environmental management practices. To acknowledge and encourage these outstanding achievements DoIR established the annual Golden Gecko Awards for environmental excellence in the minerals and petroleum industries.
Page Index
Minerals Incident Emergency Number
Public Availability of Mining Proposals (Notices of Intent) Mining Amendment Act 2004
Minerals Incident Emergency Number
The Department of Industry and Resources' Minerals Environment Duty Inspector may be contacted on the following phone number:
1300 665 500
The Duty Inspector is available twenty four hours a day to take calls relating to reportable incidents.
Legislation and Policy
In Western Australia, mineral exploration and mining operations are managed under the Mining Act 1978 (WA) and Regulations.
Large projects to which the State contributes are generally approved pursuant to their own State Agreement Act issued by Parliament.
The Act provides for different types of tenements to be issued for different mining activities. These include prospecting, exploration and miscellaneous licences, as well as mining and general purpose leases.
Regulation of environmental issues associated with mining are managed through various sections under the Act. For example, environmental conditions are imposed on tenements via Section 84 of the Act and environmental bonds are imposed pursuant to Section 84A of the Act. Regulations 120F through to 120O provide for the assignment of inspectors for environmental purposes and their powers to issue Work Directions and Stop Work Orders.
To check whether your operation requires a works approval or licence from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), please contact your local DEC office or access the DEC website.
Please refer to the State Law Publisher for all the State legislation.
Other legislation that may regulate environmental aspects of mining operations include the following:
- Mining Act 1978 (WA) - available from State Law Publisher
- Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) - available from EPA
- Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 (WA) - available from DEC
- Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WA) - available from DEC
- Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (WA) - available from Department of Water
- Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) - available from the Australasian Legal Information Institute
Further information related to legislation and policy is available from the Document links on the right of this page
Amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 - Requirements for Clearing Permits involving Native Vegetation
The Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) now provides for the protection of native vegetation and control of clearing. This came into force on 8 July 2004. Any clearing of native vegetation will require a permit under Part V of the Act except where exemptions are granted under Schedule 6 of the Act or prescribed by regulation in the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (WA). This repeals the notice of intention to clear land provision (clearing controls) in the Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945 (WA).
For the mineral and petroleum industries, applications for any clearing associated with their exploration, production or development activities will require a permit in all cases except where granted an exemption.
Interactions with other Government Agencies
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Industry and Resources and the Environmental Protection Authority is provided in the Document links on the right of this page.
Public Availability of Mining Proposals (Notices of Intent) Mining Amendment Act 2004
The Mining Amendment Act 2004 (WA) was proclaimed and came into effect on 10 February 2006.
The Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR) advises that in line with the Mining Amendment Act 2004 (WA), proposals will be made publicly available via this website. This will apply to all proposals lodged after 10 February 2006.
The “Guidelines for Mining Proposals” details the content and format of mining proposals. This guideline includes a section on the format requirements for digital submissions of Mining Proposals and the management of confidential material.
DoIR requests that as far as possible proposals are lodged in both hard copy and digital format to facilitate the approval process.
For further information please contact your local DoIR Environmental Officer.
Access to Mining Proposals
To obtain a full list of Mining Proposals and retrieve documents post dating the 10th February 2006, click the link below to access the MINEDEX (Mines and Mineral Deposits Database) Query System. Click the 'Mining Proposals' tab and then the tab named 'MP received 10 Feb 2006 to Current'.
To search all Mining Proposals pre and post dating the 10th February 2006, click the tab named 'MP by name and date range' and enter name, number or date range.
