Minerals Development Act 2017
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Confidentiality of reports | ||
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38. (1) The Minister shall keep the reports that a licensee submits to the Minister under section 37 and their contents confidential— | ||
(a) until the expiration of the prescribed period, unless the licensee agrees that the reports may be made public earlier, either in whole or in part, | ||
(b) until the licence expires or ceases to have effect by revocation, surrender or otherwise, | ||
(c) until the expiration of any extended period of confidentiality under subsection (2), | ||
whichever last occurs. | ||
(2) The Minister may, on the application of the licensee and on reasonable grounds, extend the period that the reports and their contents are to remain confidential. | ||
(3) After the period of confidentiality ends or the licensee agrees that the reports may be made public, the reports and their contents may be— | ||
(a) disclosed to the public on request and on payment of reasonable administrative costs determined by the Minister, or | ||
(b) made available to the public free of charge. | ||
(4) For the purposes of this section, a retention licence granted under section 22 shall be deemed to be the same licence as the prospecting licence to which it relates. |