What happens when a prospective explorer applies for an exploration licence?

Explorers identify areas of geological interest and mineral resource potential in various ways. This includes reviewing geological mapping available in MinView, as well as researching historical exploration records, reports, publications and data in DIGS.

Once an area of geological interest and potential is identified, explorers must then determine if the land is available for exploration. Explorers can use the department's online mapping application known as MinView to find land.

Explorers for minerals must identify land in their proposed exploration area using the graticular system. Explorers for coal must use GPS coordinates to identify their proposed exploration area.

The graticular system divides NSW into a series of ‘blocks’ and ‘units’ which you can see in MinView. The graticular system can be viewed using the following instructions:

• Go to MinView

• Click ‘Add view’ from the left-hand side panel and select your preferred view from the available views. The view is the base layer of the map.

• Click ‘Add layer’ from the left-hand side panel and select ‘Titles administration’ from the available options and then select ‘Assessment Framework’. The drop-down arrow on this selection will then allow you to select ‘Map blocks and units’ to display the graticular system.

Depending on the size of your property, several units may overlap your land.

For more information on MinView and DIGS, refer to the publicly accessible information section on the Information for landholders page. 

No. As a landholder, you will not receive direct notification if an explorer applies for an exploration licence over your property.

However, the explorer is required to advertise that they have lodged an application for an exploration licence to the department. 

The explorer must publicly advertise a notice of their proposed exploration area within 45 days of submitting their application. 

The public notice must be advertised in at least 1 newspaper that is widely read in NSW, as well as in at least 1 newspaper that targets the proposed exploration area. If there is no local newspaper, the notice can be published online where it is likely to been seen by the local community. 

The notice must include a diagram showing their proposed exploration area and its proximity to the closest town or village. 

If the notice does not meet the department’s advertising requirements, the explorer will be required to re-advertise the notice. 

For more information about what information an explorer is required to put into their public notice, refer to the Advertising Requirements page. 

Yes. When an explorer applies for an exploration licence, details of the application are recorded and published by the department. You can check the public records and notifications including:

• Mining Titles Register publishes a record that an application for an exploration licence has been lodged.
• MinView displays the explorer’s proposed exploration area on a map.
• NSW Government Gazette publishes a notice that an application for an exploration licence has been lodged.

For further information about publicly accessible information, go to the Information for landholders page. 

The department has a Public comment process for the exploration of coal and petroleum, including coal seam gas (PDF, 369.71 KB).

The public comment process enables community members to advise the department on matters relating to the impacts or benefits of a coal exploration licence application. Comments may include what the department should consider when deciding whether to permit certain exploration activities for coal.

This process does not apply to the exploration for any other minerals like gold, copper or critical minerals and high-tech metals.

Explorers must advertise a public notice of their proposed exploration area. Additionally, coal explorers must invite public comment on their coal exploration licence application, as part of the public notice.

In response to an invitation for public comment in relation to coal exploration, you can make submissions to the department. For guidance on what to include in your submission and how submissions are used by the department, read the public comment process (PDF, 369.71 KB) guide.

The department publishes a list of exploration applications related to coal that are open for comment on the Public comment on new coal and petroleum titles page.

To apply for an exploration licence, the explorer must submit specific information and documents to satisfy the requirements of the Mining Act 1992 and the Mining Regulation.

The required information that an explorer must provide includes:

• Details of all parties applying for the licence
• Nominating a licence term of up to 6 years
• A description of their proposed exploration area
• Identification of the group of minerals they seek to explore
• A statement of compliance, environmental performance and financial history for all parties
• A proposed work program outlining their proposed exploration activities for the term sought
• Nominating a suitably qualified and experienced technical manager to oversee the implementation of their work program
• Demonstrate they have the financial capability to carry out their work program
• Identify how native title obligations will be addressed

The explorer must also pay an application fee when they submit their application.

Explorers must provide this information when submitting their application or within 10 business days. If any required information is missing, the department may reject or refuse the application. 

Yes. There are additional requirements for explorers applying for an exploration licence for coal. 

Only existing holders of a coal exploration licence, coal assessment lease or coal mining lease can apply to explore for coal adjacent to their existing licence or lease area. This is known as an exploration licence for operational allocation purposes. 

The purpose of an operational allocation exploration licence is to avoid sterilising coal resources, support better coal mine design and extend the life of a coal mine. Operational allocation of coal aligns with the NSW Government's Coal Industry 2026-50.

Existing coal authority holders looking to apply for a coal exploration licence for operational allocation purposes must first address the standard information required for all applications for exploration licences. They must also provide additional information, including:

• Demonstrate that they are an existing holder of a coal exploration licence, coal assessment lease, or coal mining lease
• Explanation of how their application is for operational allocation purposes in accordance with the relevant criteria in the Guidelines for coal exploration licence applications for operational allocation purposes (PDF, 57.29 KB)
• Outline how they comply with specific land size area thresholds. 

The department also conducts a market interest test for applications for operational allocation purposes. The market interest test involves publicly advertising that an application has been submitted and invites parties to express their interest in exploring for coal in the proposed area.

If no market interest is established, the department will progress with assessing the application. 

If the submissions indicate sufficient market interest, a competitive allocation process may be initiated. This competitive process involves the department releasing the area through public tender and must be undertaken in accordance with the Guideline for the competitive allocation of coal (PDF, 1.7 MB). 

For more information on coal exploration and mining, including the operational allocation framework and competitive allocation, refer to the coal exploration and mining web page.

The department assesses the following in considering whether to grant or refuse an application: 

• All required information has been provided, is satisfactory and meets the requirements of the Mining Act 1992 and Mining Regulation 2016
• Application fee has been paid
• All fees and levies have been paid as well as a security deposit has been lodged
• The explorer meets the department’s minimum standards for work programs and technical and financial capability
• The explorer has a satisfactory compliance history
• The requirements of the Commonwealth’s Native Title Act 1993 have been met

If any required information is missing or is not provided when requested, the department may reject or refuse the application. 

If the department proposes to approve the application, the explorer will be required to pay additional fees and levies and lodge a security deposit before the exploration licence is granted. 

When the department assesses an exploration licence application, it considers the compliance history of the applicant. 

An applicant is either a natural person or a body corporate. A body corporate is a legal entity that includes a statutory corporation, a company and an incorporated association.  

Several factors are considered as part of assessing an applicant’s compliance history. These include, but are not limited to: 

• The compliance or criminal conduct history of the explorer, including related companies
• The explorer’s reputation and character, including their honesty and integrity

The department can refuse an exploration licence application if it considers that the applicant has an unsatisfactory compliance history. Compliance issues may include a history of significant environmental breaches, failure to meet rehabilitation obligations, or providing false and misleading information to the department. 

If the compliance history of an applicant indicates that they may not be fit and proper, an assessment to determine this may be initiated. 

If the department is satisfied that the explorer is not a fit and proper person, their application may be refused. Additionally, the department may temporarily or indefinitely disqualify the explorer from applying for any other exploration licences or mining leases.

The department has service delivery standards that outline the expected timeframes for processing applications. These timeframes start when an explorer submits their application and end when a decision on the application is made by the department.  

The expected end-to-end processing timeframes are:

• 45 days for an exploration licence for minerals
• 85 days for an exploration licence for coal

The processing timeframes may be paused if an exception occurs. This is known as a ‘stop the clock’. Examples of exceptions include resolving native title related matters or the department requesting further information from the applicant. 

The performance of the department against the service delivery standards is reported on a quarterly basis.   

The service delivery standards, details of exceptions, and reporting on performance can be found on the service delivery standards page. 

Yes. An explorer must provide a rehabilitation security deposit to the department to cover rehabilitation costs in the event they fail to meet their rehabilitation obligations. 

The department determines the amount of security deposit required. The minimum amount is $10,000. 

The explorer must lodge their security deposit before the department grants an exploration licence. If an explorer fails to provide a security deposit, their application may be refused. 

Where an explorer seeks to conduct an ‘assessable prospecting operation’, the department will assess the rehabilitation liability for the proposed activities. The security deposit is then set to cover the obligations of the explorer. 

Generally, the security deposit amount varies over the life of an exploration licence, based on the level of exploration activities carried out and rehabilitation required. 

The explorer must pay any increase in the security deposit prior to undertaking the approved activities. Only once the exploration activity is successfully rehabilitated will  the security deposit be returned.  

For further information on security deposits and explorers’ rehabilitation obligations, refer to the security deposit page as well as the Guideline: Rehabilitation security deposits (PDF, 92.73 KB). 

No. The department makes a final decision on all exploration licence applications but not all are approved. Potential outcomes include: 

• The department approves the application and grants an exploration licence
• The department refuses the application
• The explorer withdraws the application 

If the department grants an exploration licence, the licence might not cover the whole area or the full term the explorer requested. 

To find out about the outcome of an application for an exploration licence, you can check the following: 

• Mining Titles Register will publish a record of the application outcome as either granted, refused, or withdrawn.
• MinView will display the granted area of the exploration licence on a map if the application is approved
• DIGS will contain a copy of the title instrument with the licence’s terms and conditions issued to the explorer if the application is approved
• NSW Government Gazette in the Mining and Primary Industries category will publish a notice stating the outcome of the application as either granted, refused, or withdrawn

If an application for an exploration licence is approved, the granted licence will have a different number than the application. For instance, the application known as Exploration Licence Application No.123 will not become Exploration Licence No. 123, it will have a different number. 

A granted exploration licence means that the department has approved the explorer’s exploration licence application. 

An exploration licence gives the holder the exclusive right to explore for specific minerals within a designated exploration area for an initial term of up to 6 years. 

An exploration licence does not permit mining, nor does it imply or guarantee that a mining lease will be granted. 

If an exploration licence has been granted, the explorer may approach you as the landholder to negotiate access. The explorer cannot enter your property to conduct exploration until a written land access arrangement is in place.

For more information on land access arrangements, refer to What happens when an explorer wants to access my land? page.

All exploration licences granted in NSW are subject to strict conditions to protect the environment, including flora, fauna, land, water, and heritage, as well as conditions relating to community consultation and native title. Some may also be subject to site-specific conditions. 

Any exploration must be carried out in accordance with the department’s codes of practice for explorers including: 

• Exploration code of practice: Rehabilitation (PDF, 547.44 KB)
• Exploration code of practice: Environmental management
• Exploration code of practice: Produced water management, storage and transfer
• Exploration code of practice: Community consultation 

You can view the general conditions that may be imposed on exploration licences including:

• Exploration licence for minerals
• Exploration licence for coal
• Exploration (low-impact) licence for minerals

The terms and conditions of an exploration licence are recorded in a document called a title instrument.

To view the terms and conditions on a specific exploration licence, you can search for the explorer’s title instrument on DIGS.

A breach of a licence condition is an offence under the Mining Act 1992, and penalties may apply.

For further information about conditions, refer to general conditions for mining and exploration page.  

Yes. There can be multiple applications or exploration licences over your land.

If there is an existing exploration licence over an area of land, another explorer can only seek an exploration licence over that area for the same mineral groups if the existing exploration licence holders provides consent. 

Additionally, there may be more than one exploration licence over an area for different mineral groups.

You can check your land on MinView to see if there multiple applications and/or exploration licences over your land.

Yes. You can continue your regular business even if an exploration licence has been granted over your land. 

An exploration licence over your land does not automatically mean that explorers will seek access to your land to conduct exploration activities. 

Should your regular business be affected by exploration activities, you are entitled to compensation for any compensable loss that you suffer, or likely to suffer, when the explorer conducts exploration on your land. For more information, see costs and compensation for a land access arrangement.

No. The explorer must have a land access arrangement in place with you as the landholder before they can start any on-ground exploration activities on your land. 

For more information on land access arrangements, refer to What happens when an explorer wants to access my land? page.

Before conducting any exploration activities, an explorer must hold an exploration licence. 

In NSW, most exploration activities do not require development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. This includes exploration activities such as drilling or geophysical surveying.

Explorers must obtain development consent if they intend during exploration to extract a bulk sample of more than 20,000 tonnes of coal or mineral ore. This bulk sampling is considered a state significant development under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021. In this case, the explorer will need to lodge a development application with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. 

For further information on mining-related planning matters, refer to Mining and Resources, Fact sheet: Resources and Energy SEPP and State Environmental Planning Policies.

Exploration licences are subject to a statutory condition that the holder must not carry out an ‘assessable prospecting operation’, unless an activity approval has been obtained from the department.

Not all exploration activities are considered an assessable prospecting operation. 

An assessable prospecting operation refers to any exploration activity that is not identified as exempt development under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resources and Energy) 2021. 

Exploration activities identified as exempt development are considered to have minimal environmental impact. Consequently, these minimal impact activities do not require any further environmental assessment or approval before being carried out. This includes low-intensity exploration activities such as geological mapping, airborne surveying, sampling using hand-held equipment, and geophysical surveying. 

Assessable prospecting operations typically includes higher-intensity exploration activities such as seismic surveys, machine-powered drilling, and bulk sampling.  

If the explorer is intending to carry out an assessable prospecting operation, they must submit an application for an activity approval to the department. The explorer will need to provide details of the proposed exploration location, outline proposed exploration activities as well as details on how their environmental impacts will be managed, including prevention, mitigation measures, and rehabilitation. 

The department assesses the explorer’s application and determines whether to grant the activity approval or refuse the application.

All assessable prospecting operations require assessment under Part 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). The department, as the determining authority, has a statutory obligation to 'examine and take into account to the fullest extent possible all matters affecting or likely to affect the environment by reason of that activity’.

As part of the assessment process, the department assesses the proposed exploration activity and determines whether it is likely to have a significant impact on the environment. This includes impacts on threatened species, ecological communities, declared areas of outstanding biodiversity value, or critical habitat.

If the exploration activity is likely to have a significant impact, then the department is required to consider additional environmental impact assessment information. This may include requiring the explorer to submit an environmental impact statement (EIS), or species impact statement (SIS), and/or a biodiversity development assessment report (BDAR).

Following assessment of the application, the department may determine to either grant the explorer an activity approval or refuse the application. 

You can check to see if an explorer has been granted an exploration activity approval to carry out an assessable prospecting operation. 

For more information about exploration activity approvals, including the application and assessment process, refer to the activity approval requirements web page.

During the exploration and rehabilitation phase, explorers must adhere to stringent environmental standards. This includes complying with their exploration licence and the terms of any issued exploration activity approvals as well as managing the environment according to the Exploration code of practice: Environmental management and Exploration code of practice: Rehabilitation.

Besides the controls within the Mining Act 1992, there are other regulatory controls in place to protect the environment that apply to exploration licences. 

The explorer is responsible for obtaining all necessary environmental and planning approvals for the exploration activities they propose to carry out.

Some examples of other approvals that may be required include, but are not limited to:

• The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 or the Water Management Act 2000 may require approval for certain exploration activities.
• The Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 requires approval by the Commonwealth Environment Minister for certain 'actions' that have an effect on matters of national environmental significance.

The key NSW legislation for the application phase of the exploration lifecycle includes:

• Mining Act 1992
• Mining Regulation 2016
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
• State Environmental Planning Policy (Resources and Energy) 2021
• State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021

The key legislation references for the application phase includes:

1. Advertise public notice of applications
   • Explorer must advertise a public notice of their application – section 13A of Mining Act 1992.
   • Explorer must advertise notice within 45 days of lodging their application – clause 15(1) of the Mining Regulation 2016.
   • The notice published by the explorer must meet the Secretary's advertising requirements – clause 15(2) of the Mining Regulation 2016.
   • Explorer must publish notice in 1 local newspaper and 1 state newspaper – clause 89K of the Mining Regulation 2016.
2. Public records and gazettal notifications of applications
   • Department required to publish a public register of applications lodged – section 159 of Mining Act 1992.
   • Department required to publish a notice in the NSW Gazette of applications lodged – section 136 of Mining Act 1992.
3. Requirements of an application for an exploration licence
   • Explorers can lodge an application for an exploration licence – section 13 of Mining Act 1992.
   • Information explorers must submit with their application for an exploration licence – section 13 of the Mining Act 1992 and clause 14 of the Mining Regulation.
   • Work program to be provided with application for an exploration licence – section 129A of Mining Act 1992 and clause 35 of Mining Regulation.
   • Information existing coal authority holders must submit for application for operational allocation licence – section 13C of the Mining Act 1992.
   • Description of exploration licence for operational allocation purposes – Clause 20 of the Mining Regulation 2016.
   • Minimum standards for financial and technical capability of an explorer – clause 4(a) Schedule 1B of Mining Act 1992.
   • Grounds for refusal of applications – clause 6 of Schedule 1B of the Mining Act 1992.
4. Security deposits
   • Minimum amount of the security deposit is $10,000 – clause 93 of Mining Regulation 2016.
   • Security deposit to be provided by explorer before exploration licence is granted by department – section 261BA of the Mining Act 1992.
5. Exploration licence conditions
   • Breach of licence conditions is an offence – section 378D of the Mining Act 1992.
6. Other approvals
   • Activity approval required for assessable prospecting operations for exploration licence – section 23A of the Mining Act 1992.
   • Activity approval required for assessable prospecting operations for assessment lease – section 44A of the Mining Act 1992.