Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Subject to
subsection (2) a person shall not carry on mining on any land unless he
is duly authorised under this or any other Act to do so.
Penalty: $100 000 and if the offence is a
continuing one, to a further fine of $10 000 for every day or part of a
day during which the offence has continued.
(2)
Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of mining operations carried on
on any private land with the consent of the owner of the land if he is the
owner of the mineral being mined on the land.
(3) A person who is
convicted of an offence under this section is not thereby relieved from
any other obligation or liability that he may have incurred by reason of
having carried on unauthorised mining.
(4) A person who owns
minerals in their natural state may take proceedings in any court of competent
jurisdiction for the recovery of those minerals or their value from any person
who unlawfully takes, removes or mines the minerals.
(5) Where a person is
convicted of an offence against subsection (1) the court may, in addition
to imposing the penalty under this Act in relation to the offence, order the
offender to rehabilitate the land to the satisfaction of the Minister within
the time specified in the order.
(6) A person who fails
to carry out an order made under subsection (5) commits an offence and is
liable to a penalty of $500 and in addition the court may require the offender
to pay the costs of rehabilitating the land to the satisfaction of the
Minister.
(7) Any sum specified
in an order under subsection (6) constitutes a debt due to the crown and
may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
[Section 155 amended by No. 100 of 1985
s. 107; No. 105 of 1986 s. 23; No. 22 of 1990 s. 38;
No. 78 of 1995 s. 147; No. 15 of 2002 s. 28.]