Ms BADGER – Venture Minerals, now trading as Critica Limited, their lease 3M/ 2012 at Livingstone, on the Stanley River, that expired on 1 June 2022 and the lease is now listed on MRT’s website as pending renewal. What’s the issue that’s preventing the renewal of this lease at the moment? Is that in relation to compliance per chance?
Mr ABETZ – Just bear with me. You’re right.
Ms BADGER – Sorry to make you come up here.
Mr ABETZ – I’ll have the Director of Mines to come to the table to assist.
Mr MORTON – Alastair Morton, Director of Mines. Can you just repeat the last bit of that question?
Ms BADGER – So it’s in relation to Venture Minerals, or now Critica Ltd, their lease 3M/ 2012, which is on their Livingstone site on the Stanley River. So, that’s expired on 1 June 2022. It’s just listed on MRT’s website as pending renewal. So, what is preventing the renewal of that lease? Is that in relation to compliance?
Mr MORTON – No. Thanks for the question. Yes, it is pending renewal. The expiration date was the 1 June 2022. Consistent with a section of the Mineral Resources Development Act, a lease continues to be enforced if an application for renewal is made but not granted before it ceases to be enforced. So, effectively, whilst it’s pending the lease is current. We’ve been assessing it. It’s taken us some time. We’ve sought some additional information from Venture. We’ve recently requested final information from them so we can form our position and move forward.
Ms BADGER – Great. So, my second question on that is they have announced their intention to sell that mining lease, which although expired, from what you’re saying, under that section of the act, they still have rights to. So, that’s perfectly fine and there are no implications for a company marketing rights to Tasmanian land which otherwise, if not leased, is reserve land in the Meredith Ranges Regional Reserve. So, they don’t own the land. There’s an expired lease and they’re able to sell it.
CHAIR – Can the question please be directed through the minister?
Mr MORTON – The key point is it’s not an expired lease. It’s an active lease that’s pending renewal. It’s a current lease. And we’re working through finalising our position in regards to what happens to that lease and our recommendation, MRT’s recommendation. But we’ll do that soon. But the key point is it is an active and current lease.
