8—Declaration of mineral land etc
(1) The Governor may,
by proclamation—
(a)
declare any land in the State or any land under coastal waters on the landward
side of the baseline to be mineral land; or
(ba)
divide mineral land into a surface stratum and one or more subsurface strata
and fix the depth of the surface stratum and the depth of any subsurface
stratum below which lies any further subsurface stratum resulting from the
division; or
(c)
reserve from the operation of this Act, or any provisions of this Act, any
land specified in the proclamation,
and the proclamation shall have effect according to its terms.
(2) The Governor may,
by subsequent proclamation, vary or revoke any proclamation made pursuant to
this section.
(3) The depth of
strata into which mineral land is divided under this section may vary from
place to place but, where the mineral land constitutes a precious stones field
or part of a precious stones field, the depth of the surface stratum must be
at least 50 metres.
(4) Land that is
subject to a mineral tenement but is on the seaward side of the baseline
because of a change in the position of the baseline after the tenement was
granted will be taken to be mineral land until it ceases to be subject to the
tenement and to all successive tenements (if any).
(5) This Act applies
to and in relation to land referred to in subsection (4) to the exclusion
of the Offshore Minerals Act 2000 .
(6) A mineral tenement
is a successive tenement in relation to another tenement if—
(a) it
applies to the same land or to part of the land covered by the other tenement;
and
(b) it
takes effect immediately after the other tenement expires or, where there are
two or more successive tenements, immediately after the tenement immediately
preceding it expires; and
(c) it
is granted to the person who held the other tenement.
(7) A proclamation
made before 29 June 1972 cannot limit or affect, and will be taken
not to have limited or affected, the exercise of the power to make a
proclamation under this section on or after that date, and to the extent to
which there is an inconsistency between a proclamation made on or after that
date and a proclamation made before that date (including, in relation to the
earlier proclamation, a proclamation that reserved specific land from the
operation of the repealed Act), the later proclamation will prevail.