The December quarter report shows DMP finished 2016 maintaining a high level of approvals performance
| Date: | Monday, 06 February 2017 |
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An increase in exploration and prospecting licence applications received by the Department of Mines and Petroleum has coincided with an improved efficiency of completing applications within target timelines.
In the final quarter of 2016, the department received 1905 applications and finalised 95 per cent of them within target timelines.
The department’s Senior Advisor, Graham Cobby said there was a significant increase in some applications.
"Exploration and prospecting licence applications received in 2016 increased by more than 1000 compared with 2015, which can be attributed to a resurgence of interest in gold exploration, particularly in the northern goldfields area," Mr Cobby said.
"The department’s approvals performance continued to remain high in the fourth quarter, with an average of 95 per cent of all applications approved within the target timeframes, despite a significant increase in the number of applications received compared with 2015.
"I’m very pleased that despite receiving an increased number of applications for mining tenements in the fourth quarter, we have maintained our high level of approval performance,” Mr Cobby said.
"In fact efficiency has improved across the board with all applications exceeding our business target greater than 80 per cent completed within timelines."
The full report can be viewed on the DMP website.
