The Western Australia Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) have recently advised that from 20 January 2025, an affidavit or statutory declaration will now be required to be lodged within 14 days of lodgement of applications for prospecting licences, special prospecting licences, mining leases, mining leases for gold and general purpose leases, as evidence that all marking out requirements have been met.
The affidavit or statutory declaration must be completed and signed by either:
- the person who marked out the land; or
- a direct witness to the marking out of the land.
If one person did not carry out or witness the entire marking out, then multiple affidavits or statutory declarations are required to attest to the marking out of each post.
DEMIRS will not require photos and videos as evidence. However, you may wish to collect this information at the time of marking out for your records, in case of the lodgement of a Mining Act Objection.
Failure to lodge the affidavit or statutory declaration within the 14 days will result in an invalid tenement application.
For full details on these changes, please visit the official position paper link: Position Paper 14 – Marking out the land
