Surrender, expiry or cancellation of a mineral title

All titles are granted for a certain period of time under the Mineral Titles Act 2010.

Surrender

If you are the holder of a mineral title, you may decide to surrender all or part of a title at any time after grant.

You must apply in writing to the department. You do not have to give a reason but the application must be in writing and signed by the appropriate people.

The department will check the application and either accept or refuse it.

If accepted you will be sent a letter confirming the date the title was surrendered and any requirements that you must complete, such as lodging a final report.

If refused, you will need to rectify the reason for refusal.

Once the issue has been rectified, you can re-lodge the application for surrender.

If you want to surrender only part of the title area, the remaining area cannot be made up of more than three separate areas. You must submit a final report for any surrendered area.

Depending on the type of title, you may also be required to survey the remaining area.

Expiry

A mineral title will expire if the titleholder overlooks or chooses not to renew the title at the end of the current granted period.

A mineral title cannot be reinstated after it has expired.

Cancellation

Your mineral title may be cancelled if you fail to:

• pay the annual rent or administration fee or submit reports
• nominate blocks for reduction
• apply for a variation of condition
• pay late lodgement fees.

Your title can also be cancelled if the department believes you no longer have the funds to pursue the exploration program.

For example, if you or a company did any of the following:

• applied to appoint a receiver or administrator
• applied to wind up or liquidate the company
• applied for bankruptcy.

Process flowchart

Get the flowchart for full or partial surrender – exploration licence, exploration licence in retention or mineral lease PDF (144.7 KB).