Mount Isa Mines Limited Agreement (Continuing Mining Activities) Amendment Bill 2024*

An Act to amend the Mount Isa Mines Limited Agreement Act 1985 to provide for continued mining activities in Mount Isa

1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Mount Isa Mines Limited Agreement (Continuing Mining Activities) Amendment Act 2024.

2Act amended

This Act amends the Mount Isa Mines Limited Agreement Act 1985.

3Insertion of new s 5B

After section 5A—
insert—

5BSpecial term for formal agreement

(1)It is a special term of the formal agreement that, despite anything else stated in the agreement, any term or condition of the Mining Lease, or anything stated in a Development Plan for the Lease—

(a)the Company must continue to carry out each preserved mining activity—

(i)in accordance with clause 12 of Part II of the agreement; and

(ii)to the extent the Company was carrying out the activity immediately before the preservation day; and

(b)the Company may make a change to the extent to which the Company carries out a preserved mining activity (an operational change) only with the approval of the Minister; and

Examples of an operational change—

•ceasing a particular activity relating to the mining, winning or treatment of a designated mineral

•reducing the scale of an activity relating to the mining, winning or treatment of a designated mineral

•closing a facility at which an activity relating to the mining, winning or treatment of a designated mineral is carried out

(c)the Minister may approve an operational change only if—

(i)the Minister is satisfied the change will not adversely affect the Mount Isa community or the Queensland economy; or

(ii)both of the following apply—

(A)after making a public call for tenders, the Minister has identified a candidate to carry out the preserved mining activity under a mining tenement to the extent that the Company intends to stop or reduce its carrying out of the activity;

(B)the Company agrees to relinquish the Company’s rights and entitlements under the agreement and the Lease to the extent needed to allow the candidate to carry out the preserved mining activity under a mining tenement granted to the candidate.

(2)The special term mentioned in subsection (1) is taken to be part of the formal agreement for this Act, another Act and any other purpose.

(3)This section applies despite section 3.

(4)In this section—

preservation day means the day the Bill for the Mount Isa Mines Limited Agreement (Continuing Mining Activities) Amendment Act 2024 was introduced into the Legislative Assembly.

preserved mining activity means an activity relating to the mining, winning or treatment of a designated mineral that was being carried out by the Company, in accordance with clause 12 of Part II of the formal agreement, immediately before the preservation day.

public call for tenders, for a preserved mining activity, means an invitation for tenders for a mining tenement to carry out the activity that is made to the public by gazette notice.