KANGAROO HILLS TIMBER
RESERVE
1572. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the minister representing the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the Kangaroo Hills
Timber Reserve in the goldfields, an area that has a long history as a highly multi-mineralised
zone that is suitable for exploration and mining.
(1) Over how many years have mining tenements existed
and been granted in the Kangaroo Hills Timber Reserve to allow
exploration and mining to take place?
(2) How many
mining tenements—including any prospecting licences, exploration
licences and mining leases, both current and pending—are currently
located within the Kangaroo Hills Timber Reserve?
(3) Can the
minister explain why the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is
supporting the reserve becoming a state forest, which would preclude the continuation
of any exploration and mining activity?
(4) Can the
minister outline any specific concerns that tenement holders and applicants
have raised with the department about proposals to declare the reserve as a state
forest?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I
thank the member for the question. The Minister for Mines and Petroleum has
provided the following information.
(1) Tenements have been granted
over the Kangaroo Hills Timber Reserve since 1894.
(2) There are 23 live and pending
mining tenements intersecting the Kangaroo Hills Timber Reserve.
(3) The
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety does not have a position on
the reservation status of the area. In 2016, DMIRS provided preliminary
comments noting that the proposed state forest could be considered, provided
access levels be maintained and the consent to mine process be addressed prior
to the creation of the state forest.
(4) Concerns have
been raised about the need to renegotiate section 24 Mining Act access if the
proposed state forest was created and that no access would be available until
such time as the consent to mine is granted
by the Minister for Mines and Petroleum via the consultation process stipulated
in the Mining Act.