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How does the permit system work?
In New Zealand Crown Minerals issue permits under the Crown Minerals Act 1991 for people to prospect, explore or mine Crown owned minerals.
The following table shows the differences between the permit types. For information on applying for permits see our guide.
| Prospecting permit | Exploration permit | Mining permit | |
| Purpose |
To identify land likely to contain exploitable deposits |
To identify deposits and evaluate the feasibility of mining |
Economic recovery of an identied resource |
| Which permit? | Previous work has not located a possible deposit |
Often applied for first, rather than a prospecting permit, when higher impact work intended |
The nature and extent of the mineable mineral resource or exploitable mineral deposit are known accurately |
| Activities |
Very low impact, e.g. literature search, geological mapping, hand sampling or aerial surveys |
May include literature review, drilling, bulk sampling and mine feasibility studies |
Mineral extraction |
| Allocation |
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|
|
| Exclusive right | Yes, unless non-exclusive permit sought | Yes | Yes |
| Duration |
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| Size |
No upper limit - relates to work programme |
No upper limit - relates to work programme |
Related to extent of discovery and work programme |
| Royalties | Not applicable |
Not applicable unless annual production is greater than $200,000 in value |
For permits under the 1996 minerals programmes, 1% ad valorem royalty (AVR) for net sales revenues up to $1 million per annum. Where net sales revenues over $1 million pa, higher of either 1% AVR or 5% accounting profits royalty For permits under the 2008 minerals programme: specific rate royalty (SRR) for low value to volume minerals and tiered AVR for precious metals and platinum group elements Guide to Completing the Annual Royalty Return [106 kB PDF] |
| Legislation |
To view or print these PDF files you will require PDF viewing software: Adobe Acrobat Reader. |
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| Land access rights |
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