The Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration has initiated a transformation program to complement provisions in the Mining Amendment Act 2022 for existing mine sites.
Under the Mining Act 1978 (Transitional provisions – Schedule 2, Division 3), the Minister can issue an Approvals Statement for activities previously approved in a mining proposal during the transition period (10 years from commencement date with possibility for extension).
The transition program commenced in April 2026 with 28 transitions already completed and a further 41 in progress.
The department has a target to complete transition of existing mine sites within three years. Sites selected for transition are prioritised based on several factors, including:
- Sites operating on a whole-of-site mining proposal previously approved by the department.
- Sites that have had an Approvals Statement issued for part of the site.
- Sites with higher risk features or complexities.
- Sites that wish to proactively provide information to facilitate transition.
Sites that are in a planned closure phase and sites classified as ‘small mining operations’ are not intended to be transitioned.
As the transition program is department-led and initiated, tenement holders do not need to contact DMPE or prepare a site-wide MDCP to facilitate transition. Instead, DMPE will contact tenement holders to commence the transition process*.
The process will involve tenement holders being requested to review and complete a template to ensure the information required to draft an Approvals Statement is accurate and captured in the appropriate format. To streamline the process, parts of the template will be pre-filled with information from departmental records where possible.
Following receipt of the completed template, DMPE will provide a draft Approvals Statement to the tenement holder for review prior to it being formally issued.
There are significant benefits for the regulator, industry and stakeholders to have all sites operating under the new framework, and DMPE has developed a new internal tracking system to monitor progress in transitioning sites
Further information on the transition program is available in section 7.3 of the Mining Development and Closure Proposal and Approvals Statement Framework publication.
* In circumstances where companies operate on tenement(s) held by another entity with their authorisation, DMPE will initiate the process with the operating company but include the tenement holder in key correspondence and steps as per existing procedures for MDCP assessments.
