The importance of the role of the mining and resource sector to the Western Australian economy cannot be overstated. The following is provided by way of ‘flavour’ of some of the diverse kinds of issues and scenarios that can arise, and in which we are well placed to provide assistance.

Problems involving contract & other legal issues arise in mining operations & in relation to ground disturbing equipment such as mechanical drilling equipment; or a backhoe, bulldozer, grader or scraper; or any other machinery used or intended to be used for any mining purposes.

For instance,  it may be necessary to ascertain the agreed basis on which a rate of royalty is to be applied, taking into account particular circumstances, and by what method a value is to be placed on the mineral (including a material containing that mineral) or a class of minerals, obtained from land for the purpose of assessing the rate of royalty that is to be paid, & in so doing to take into account market factors, including pricing methods & merchandising practices.

Matters of interpretation & application of contracts & agreements & other legal issues may arise in complex & diverse engineering & construction contexts in the mining resources and energy sector.

Further, in the course of the performance of those contracts and agreements, a diverse range of complex factual situations readily arises, sometimes raising problematic differences between parties as to their interpretation & application.

For instance, contracts and agreements connected with engineering & construction (& related goods & services), construction work, mining operations, mineral processing operations, treatment plants, technical defects in plant, machinery, civil structures such as load-out tunnel structures, tailing dams, dumps, treatment plants, utility service infrastructure works etc (the list is naturally not exhaustive).

The terms of an agreement or a contract or lower tier contract for the supply of goods or services (or related goods & services) may raise civil liability questions for commercial consideration & the matter of the applicability of proportionate liability legislation & related insurance coverage may arise for further commercial decisions.

Problems also arise in mining operations & modes or methods of working by which any of the following operations are performed; earth or any rock structure stone fluid or mineral bearing substance is disturbed, removed, washed, sifted, crushed, leached, roasted, distilled, evaporated, smelted, combusted or refined or dealt with for the purpose of obtaining a mineral or processed mineral resource from it, whether it has been previously disturbed or not. Those include:–

• The removal of overburden by mechanical or other means & stacking, deposit, storage & treatment of any substance considered to contain any mineral;

• operations by means of which salt or other evaporites may be harvested;

• operations by means of which mineral is recovered from the sea or a natural water supply;

• operations by means of which a processed mineral resource is produced & recovered; & all acts incident or conducive to any such operation or purposes.

For instance, problems may arise in connection with mining plant, that is, any building, plant, machinery (intended to be used for any mining purpose), equipment, tools or any other property of any kind whether affixed (or intended to be affixed) or not so affixed.

Issues also arise in connection with tailings or the treatment of tailings or other mining product (that is, any material won from land by mining) on the land or part of the land that is the subject of a mining tenement, or connected with material used & applied in the construction or support of tailings dams or other dams (that is any accumulation or storage of water, whether natural or artificial) connected with mining operations.

Problems also arise in mining exploration, mining services, mineral processing plants or units of processing plants for instance SAG mills, mixing tanks & mechanical mixing elements, coatings & liners) or design, engineering, specification, materials, manufacture, fabrication, transportation, delivery, laydown, erection, assembly, installation, testing, commissioning & other types of problem, as naturally this list is not exhaustive.

The resolution of some of these issues may be assisted by legal advice focussed on problem solving.

Relatedly, the significance of the steel manufacturing industry, the metal fabrication industry, the equipment manufacturing industry & other industries involved in the production & supply of diverse goods (& their related goods) for the mining resources & energy sector in Western Australia is clear. And so too are the diverse engineering, technical, scientific & other service industries & professions underpinning this sector.   

Many of the problems we have described may be the more readily commercially resolvable depending upon the outcome of significant investigations & related reports by suitably qualified independent experts in a wide array of fields & wide array of factual circumstances that can occur including inland & on the sea. This is something we also assist and advise on.

For more detailed information about the legal services we can provide in this sector, please view each of our Practice Areas.