Landholders are entitled to compensation under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 if a mining claim or mining lease covers the surface of their land, or if their land is used to access either of these tenures.

The term 'landholders' includes:

• owners of freehold land
• Land Act 1994 lessees (e.g. holders of pastoral and other leases on state land)
• trustees of resources reserves, Aboriginal land and Torres Strait Islander land
• the Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals for Land Act 1994 reserves
• lessees under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Land Holding Act 2013.

For the full list, see the 'owner' definition in schedule 2 of the Mineral Resources Act.

Landholder compensation entitlements

You are entitled to compensation for:

• the loss you suffer because you can no longer use the surface of your land
• any loss of value to the land or the improvements
• any loss from your use of your land or the improvements on it being diminished
• any loss caused because one part of your land is separated from the rest of your land
• any direct losses or expenses that arise because of the grant or renewal of the mining claim or lease
• the likely costs of moving yourself and your possessions (including livestock), if you need to move grazing or farming operations onto another part of your land or onto replacement land you buy
• any special value as a result of the current status and use of the land
• loss of profits.

You're also entitled to an additional 10% on top of the compensation amount because it's compulsory for you to participate in the process.

Sections 85(5) and (6) of the Mineral Resources Act outline the criteria for compensation for a mining claim and s281(3) and (4) of the Act give the criteria for mining leases.

Neighbouring properties

If your land neighbours a mining claim or mining lease, you are not entitled to compensation under the Mineral Resources Act.

Similarly, if your land neighbours mining exploration activities or gas exploration or production activities, you are not entitled to compensation for the conduct of these activities under the land access framework. This is because your land is not being accessed by the resource authority holder.

However, you are protected from environmental nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 in the same way that landholders with resources activities on their land are. This includes environmental nuisance issues that result from emissions of noise, dust, odour, light or smoke.

Additionally, resource activities occurring on certain tenures (authority to prospect, petroleum leases, mineral development licences and mining leases) that have an impact on water bores are required to be 'made good' by the resource tenure holder. Find out more information about make good agreements.

Restricted land protects certain areas from being included in the surface of a mining claim or mining lease without the landholder's consent. This means the miner isn't allowed to enter that land, and the land is protected from disturbance.

You are not obliged to give this consent, but if you do, you cannot later withdraw it.

• For mining leases, consent to these areas being included can be given at any time.
• For mining claims, consent must be given before the objection period for the claim ends.

The protection offered by restricted land applies to land even if the relevant building or improvement is not located within the boundaries of the mining claim or mining lease.

Prescribed distances

What is considered to be restricted land is set at the point in time when the application for the mining claim or mining lease is lodged. This means it applies only to buildings and infrastructure in existence at the time the application was lodged.

For mining claims and mining leases restricted land is the area within 200 metres of:

• a permanent building used for
  • residences
  • businesses
  • childcare centres
  • hospitals
  • libraries
  • places of worship
  • community, sporting or recreational purposes
• an area used for
  • schools
  • aquaculture, intensive animal feedlotting, pig keeping or poultry farming (as provided under the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019).

Restricted land is also the area within 50 metres of:

• artesian wells
• bores
• dams
• water storage facilities
• principal stockyards
• cemeteries or burial places.

You can read more information on restricted land and on ways to resolve any disputes with the miner in A guide to landholder compensation for mining claims and mining leases (PDF, 334KB).

You have 2 ways of seeking compensation. You can:

• negotiate an agreement directly with the miner
• apply to the Land Court to have it determine how much compensation you will receive.

Negotiating compensation directly with the miner is the best approach if you want an agreement that includes:

• in-kind assistance
• conditions about what conduct is permitted.

In-kind assistance might mean that the miner agrees to build a fence line or irrigation system for you, or dig a dam. The Land Court can only award monetary compensation, not in-kind compensation.

Conduct conditions might include entry times, speed limits, and activities that aren't permitted without prior notification. The Land Court is not able to require conduct conditions when determining compensation in a Court hearing.

Negotiating with the miner

Preparing to negotiate

You should prepare a map of your land marking the location of key areas and infrastructure and know the value of your land – this might mean getting advice from a valuer.

You will find important information to help you prepare for negotiations in A guide to landholder compensation for mining claims and mining leases (PDF, 334KB).

You may also wish to refer to the standard compensation agreement template (DOCX, 59KB). This template was developed for small-scale mining operations, for example mining claims and small mining leases under 20 hectares.

Going to the Land Court

You or the miner can apply to the Land Court to have it determine how much compensation you will receive using the Queensland Courts. You should fill in Form 01 – Originating application.

The Court has issued a practice direction about compensation payable by miners (PDF, 15KB) that you should refer to when applying.

Time frames for negotiating compensation

There is no time limit by which compensation must be finalised. You can negotiate with the miner until an agreement is reached.

Alternatively, either of you can apply to the Land Court at any time to determine compensation.

However, the Minister may refuse to grant the mining claim or mining lease if compensation has not been agreed or referred to the Land Court within the following time frames.

Filing the agreement

If you have negotiated a compensation agreement directly with the miner, you or the miner must file the signed compensation agreement with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development through the Coal or Mineral Assessment Hub or your nearest district office.

You must submit a complete copy of the signed compensation agreement—a redacted version will not be accepted.

If you applied to the Land Court to determine compensation, the Land Court will provide its compensation determination directly to the department and the parties.

Also consider…

• Find your annual land valuation and related data for your area.

It's important to remember a compensation agreement or determination binds future landholders of the property as well as any new holder of the mining claim or mining lease.

You should always obtain independent advice from a solicitor before signing any agreement. We also recommend you obtain advice from your accountant about tax and GST issues related to any compensation payments you receive.

You'll find important information to help you prepare for negotiations in A guide to landholder compensation for mining claims and mining leases (PDF, 334KB).

You can also refer to the standard compensation agreement template for small-scale mining operations (DOCX, 59KB).

Our Mining Community Infoline can help if you have concerns around the way in which negotiations are being conducted or for emerging disputes.

If there is a dispute about the compensation agreement, either party can request the other party to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process.

The Land Court can help you resolve disputes without a hearing through conferences, mediations and case appraisals.

Access roads and access land

In their application, the miner will need to specify how they will get to and from the mining claim or lease area.

They will need an access whenever the claim or lease does not directly adjoin a public road. The access land generally applies for the duration of the mining claim or lease.

In some cases only the access for a mining claim or lease will run over your land, not the claim or lease itself.

Both you and the miner can use the access and cannot adversely affect each other's activities.

The miner can use the access for road transport of:

• items reasonably necessary to carry out authorised activities
• minerals mined by the miner.

If a road isn't present they can construct one if it's reasonably necessary to allow transport of the items or mined minerals.

If there is a dispute between you and the miner about whether access is reasonable, either party may apply to the Land Court for it to decide the access. In determining whether access is reasonable, the Land Court considers:

• the nature and extent of any impact access will have on the land and your use and enjoyment of it
• how, when and where the miner proposes to use access rights.

Entering land

New mining leases or claims

Before the grant

If the miner has an existing resource authority over the land, such as an exploration permit or mineral development licence, they may be able to continue to access the land under the land access rules that apply to these authorities. They can do this until the mining claim or lease is granted.

However, any entry under an exploration permit or mineral development licence does not allow them to conduct mining activities.

After the grant

The miner can access the mining claim or mining lease after the tenure has been granted.

The miner is not required to notify you when they enter the land, unless the compensation agreement requires it.

You are only allowed to enter the area of the mining claim or mining lease with the miner's permission, unless this permission has been given in the compensation agreement.

Renewal applications

The miner is able to continue accessing their mining claim or mining lease to conduct authorised activities, unless their renewal application is refused.

This is the case even if the expiry date for the mining claim or lease has passed and a new compensation agreement has not been filed with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development.

The miner is required to comply with the compensation agreement or Land Court determination.

If you think the miner isn't complying, your first step should be to contact them and discuss it together. It could be a simple misunderstanding that the miner agrees to fix.

If your compensation agreement includes a dispute resolution process, then try to resolve the issue following this process.

If you want our help, contact the Mining Community Infoline. We may be able to organise a conference with the miner to see if the issue can be resolved.

Finally, you can apply to the Land Court to have it enforce the terms of the compensation agreement. You should fill in Form 01 – Originating application.

Note that conduct conditions contained in a compensation agreement aren't part of the mining claim or mining lease so they can't be enforced by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development. To enforce these conditions you will need to apply to the Land Court.

Compliance action for non-payment of compensation

It's a condition of the mining claim or lease that the agreed amount of compensation has to be paid as and when required by the agreement or Land Court determination.

If the miner isn't complying, for example, isn't paying an instalment on time, or not installing a fence agreed to as compensation, then you should discuss this with the miner.

If this doesn't solve the problem, then contact the Mining Community Infoline. We will investigate and may take compliance action against the miner. Note that we can't take compliance action for breach of conditions in a compensation agreement. To enforce these conditions you will need to apply to the Land Court.