“20A Section 24 amended (Allocation by public tender)

• “(1) After section 24(2)(c), insert:

  • “‘(ca) that each tender must include an application that complies with section 29A(1) and be accompanied by sufficient information in relation to the permit offered for the Minister to satisfy himself or herself of the matters set out in section 29A(2) or the matters required under section 29B, as the case may be; and

  • “‘(cb) that, if the tender is to be considered in accordance with section 29B, the tender must include a statement to that effect; and’.

  “(2) After section 24(4), insert:

  • “‘(4A) To avoid doubt, tenders must be assessed by the Minister in accordance with this section and the criteria in section 29A or in section 29B, as the case may be.’”

• “(5) This section is subject to section 29B.”

“29B Process for considering application under public tender for conditional exploration permit

• “(1) This section applies if—

  • “(a) a Tier 1 permit for exploration is offered for allocation by public tender under section 24(1); and

  • “(b) a tender made in response to the offer under section 24(1) states that it is to be considered in accordance with this section; and

  • “(c) the proposed work programme provided with the tender contains an exploration drilling committal date.

  “(2) If this section applies, the Minister must, when considering whether to grant the permit to the tenderer, be satisfied of the matters set out in section 29A(2)(b) and (d) only in relation to work that will be undertaken before the exploration drilling committal date.

  “(3) If a permit is granted in accordance with this section,—

  • “(a) work cannot be undertaken after the exploration drilling committal date unless, before that date,—

    • “(i) the Minister has, upon application by the permit holder, satisfied himself or herself of the matters set out in section 29A(2)(b) and (d) in relation to that work; and

    • “(ii) the permit holder has committed, in accordance with the permit, to drilling for exploration purposes; and

  • “(b) the requirements of paragraph (a) are a condition of the permit.

  “(4) For the purposes of subsection (3),—

  • “(a) section 29A(3) and (4) apply for the purposes of the Minister satisfying himself or herself; and

  • “(b) section 29A(2) to (4) must be read with all necessary modifications.

  “(5) In this section,—

  “exploration drilling committal date means the point in a work programme at which a permit holder must commit to drilling for exploration purposes or surrender the permit

  “work means work to be undertaken under a work programme for a permit.”

“underground gas storage facility means a natural reservoir into which petroleum is injected in a gaseous state for subsequent extraction”.

• “(4) The first report to be provided under subsection (1) must relate to the period of 12 months ending with 31 December 2014.”

• “(2) Replace section 40(2) with:

  • “‘(2) Unless the Minister considers it is in the interests of the Crown to acquire the permit for the purposes of reallocation or otherwise (in which case the permit vests in the Crown as if it were personal property), the surrender—

    • “‘(a) must be accepted by the chief executive if everything is in order and, in the case of a partial surrender, the Minister has approved the area to be surrendered under subsection (7A); and

    • “‘(b) takes effect when the chief executive accepts it.’”

“offshore area means any area that is—

• “(a) within the territorial sea; or

• “(b) within the exclusive economic zone; or

• “(c) on or above the continental shelf”.

“Part 1
“Provisions relating to Crown Minerals Amendment Act 2013”.

“7 Petroleum exploration permit holders' rights to extension of duration of permit

• “(1) Despite new section 35(4), a specified permit may be extended—

  • “(a) for a period not exceeding 15 years from the commencement date of the permit in accordance with new section 36(1) to (4); and

  • “(b) under new section 35A.

  “(2) In this clause, specified permit means—

  • “(a) a permit granted in respect of an application to which clause 6 applies; and

  • “(b) an existing exploration permit for petroleum.”

• “(5) Despite subclause (1), a section of the principal Act (whether a new or an old section) applies to each existing privilege, in the manner provided in the section, if the section in whole or in part expressly relates to or provides for an existing privilege.”

• “(3) For the purposes of the principal Act, the person notified to the Minister is, on and from the date of notification, the permit operator for the existing privilege, unless the permit operator is subsequently changed in accordance with new section 41C.

• “(4) For the purposes of subclause (3), new section 41C applies to each existing privilege—

  • “(a) as if the existing privilege were a permit and the holder of the privilege a permit holder and, for the purpose of that section, new sections 2B to 2D also apply:

  • “(b) but the person proposed to become the new operator may be someone other than a holder of the existing privilege.”

• “(c) an authorisation given, an agreement entered into, or a grant of rights under the Iron and Steel Industry Act 1959, or an existing right referred to in section 5 of that Act.”

Platinum group metals

$1,250,000

$50,000

–

“In this Schedule,—

“metallic mineral does not include gold, silver, ironsand, or platinum group metals

“platinum group metals means iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium.”