To apply for a lease using the template, applicants must first determine whether their proposed mining operation is considered eligible against a set of criteria.

The criteria have been designed to gauge potential impacts from proposed mining on the existing environment, community and third party infrastructure.

Proposed operations that do not meet the eligibility criteria are considered to have potential impacts that are not easily defined and a mining proposal (MP) must be developed in accordance with Ministerial Determination 003, the Mining Act 1971 and Mining Regulations 2020.

Eligibility criteria

The eligibility criteria are available for completion on the South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG) using the Defined Impact Mining Proposal (MP) eTool.

SARIG is a secure online map-based web application that delivers state wide geological and geospatial data. Access to SARIG is free via https://map.sarig.sa.gov.au/ and no login is required.

Step by step guide

Step 1: Click 'Main Menu' and select Mineral Tenements from the list.

Step 2: Click the 'View' arrow under Mining Tenements. Click 'Start'.

Step 3: Enter the relevant Mineral Claims (MC) number and click Evaluate. SARIG will evaluate whether the MC falls within the eligibility criteria area.

Step 4: Answer yes or no to each question proceeding down the list.

If the criteria are not met you will be notified and re-directed to the relevant Ministerial Determination. If you would like to return to the previous question click the arrow.

Once the criteria have been successfully completed print the page (using the print icon) for inclusion with your application.

The template can then be accessed for download via the 'Extractive Minerals (MLP) Template'.

The extractive minerals MLP eTool template

Question 1: SARIG evaluation criteria

Within South Australia areas exist where quarrying cannot occur due to land access restrictions, sensitive environmental features or proximity to existing infrastructure. A layer has been developed within SARIG to identify these higher risk areas.

SARIG can also be used to find:

• South Australian mining and petroleum projects
• Geology, geophysics, regolith, paleodrainage, petroleum basins, groundwater and earthquakes
• Mineral, petroleum and geothermal tenement boundaries
• Exploration company details and commodity information
• Infrastructure locations e.g. power stations, substations and transmission lines, water pipelines, roads and railway, ports and airports
• Data from other government agencies that value-add to mineral and energy resources managed data, e.g. land access layers for parks, Native Title and property boundaries
• Seismic lines and seismic horizon maps
• SEG-Y and HyLoggerTM image and data downloads

For more information or assistance using SARIG contact:

Phone: +61 8 8463 3000
Email: DEM.customerservices@sa.gov.au

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Question 2: Commodity

Extractive minerals means sand, gravel, stone, shell, shale or clay, but does not include:(a) any such materials that are mined for a prescribed purpose; or

(b) fire clay, bentonite or kaolin.

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Question 3: Prescribed purpose

Continuous 24 hour mining refers to mining that does not stop over a 24 hour period.

Mining over a 24 hour period increases the potential for impacts on the local community through noise in the form of both operational activities and truck movements to and from the quarry. For this reason miners that propose a 24 hour continuous operation are deemed of higher risk and must prepare a more detailed MP.

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Question 5: Associated tenements

Stockpiling, storing or processing material from another mining area increases the potential for spread of weeds or contamination of soil. It is difficult to quantify what impact importation of foreign material may have on the environment without further investigation. Consequently this activity is considered higher risk and a more detailed MP is required for assessment.

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Question 6: Land disturbance

The area of land that is disturbed by mining correlates with a number of potential impact events. Once an area has been stripped of vegetation and topsoil it is much more vulnerable to erosion through wind and water. These erosional activities can result in impacts to the environment and communities in the form of nuisance dust and contaminated surface water runoff. Limiting the disturbed area to three hectares decreases the risk of these impacts.

Applicants that cannot plan mining to occur with a maximum disturbed area of 3 hectares are considered higher risk and must provide a more detailed MP for assessment.

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Question 7: Mining depth and slope angle

The department recognises that not all mining occurs below ground level and this criterion has been included to ensure small scale operators are not excluded if mining these landforms. If done correctly mining of a sand dune or surface rock outcrop is considered to be low risk. The height has been restricted to ten metres as mining any higher than this may create stability issues depending on the geological properties of the particular substrate.

If mining is proposed on a landform that is higher than ten metres a more detailed MP will be required for assessment.

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Question 9: Processing

Processing refers to refinement of the raw material to create an end product. For example limestone may be crushed and screened to create the right specification size for use as road base. Wet processing refers to any processing that involves the addition of water or any other liquid. The addition of liquid to processing creates a waste product that could potentially impact on the environment if not managed appropriately.

Because of the higher risk level associated miners that propose wet processing must provide more information in a MP for assessment.

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Question 10: Blasting

Miners proposing the use of blasting have been excluded from using the template due to the higher risk of potential impacts associated with these activities. Blasting has the potential to impact on the community through noise and vibration.

Because of the higher risk associated applicants proposing this activity must provide a more detailed MP for assessment.

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Question 11: Groundwater

South Australia is the driest state in Australia and many ecosystems depend on groundwater for survival. In regional areas of the state groundwater is the primary water resource for local communities and any impact to the quantity or quality could directly impact on these people.

To decrease the risk of impacts to groundwater miners using the template are restricted to mining no more than two metres from the groundwater table as shown below.

Mining operators that propose mining into the groundwater table, or less than two metres from it, must provide a more detailed MP for assessment.

The groundwater depth can be determined by:

(a) Consultation with the landowner;

(b) Enquiring water well data on SARIG.

To access the relevant data on SARIG:

• Ensure the layers for mineral claims and water wells are ticked
• Find the mineral claim and look for water wells in the nearby vicinity - they should appear like the bores shown below.

Select the identify option from the drop down menu located in the top left portion of the screen and draw a box over the nearby water wells in the near vicinity.

An information box will appear for each water well. Scrolling to the right may find information on the depth of standing water for the respective wells, as shown below - note that not all wells will have this information and in some cases the data is outdated, please check the associated date. Select either the closest well with information or calculate an average of the surrounding wells in the area.

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Question 12: Proximity to third party infrastructure

Before mining it is important to establish whether any third party infrastructure is present in the area. Mining into underground infrastructure or too close to above ground infrastructure may cause damage and leave mining operators liable for repair or replacement costs.

The department considers a buffer of fifty metres sufficient to reduce the risk of damage to third party infrastructure. If mining is proposed less than fifty metres from third party infrastructure a more detailed MP will be required for assessment.

The location of third party infrastructure can be sourced from the landowner, local council or telecommunication companies. Infrastructure information can also be accessed via the infrastructure tab on SARIG.

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Question 13: Watercourse

A watercourse means any of the following (whether or not temporarily dry):

• river, creek or other body of flowing water
• dam or reservoir that collects water flowing in a watercourse
• lake, wetland or other body of water flowing in a watercourse
• the Coorong
• an artificial channel
• a public stormwater disposal system
• part of a watercourse.

Once an area has been stripped of vegetation and topsoil for mining the risk of erosion and sediment transport through water runoff significantly increases. Sediment laden water can impact on water quality, clog watercourses increasing the changes of flooding, and alter delicate watercourse ecosystems.

The department considers a buffer of 25 metres sufficient to reduce the risk to watercourses from mining given all contaminated water must be retained on site.

If mining is proposed less than 25 metres from a watercourse then further detail will be required in the MP for assessment.

The location of watercourses can be sourced from the landowner or aerial imagery.