Hey
@blockhead, I share your Jeepers PEPR's frustrations. Here are some of my thoughts to while away the time:
* Does the Major Project Status make it a one-stop approvals shop? No. https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/major-project-status#:~:text=Major%20Project%20Status%20formally%20recognises,extra%20support%20and%20coordinated%20approvals. says 'here's what you get:
- A single entry point for Commonwealth Government approvals
- Project support and coordination
-
Help with state and territory approvals* If you check out the SA Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) web pages, you'll see their latest news posted is Feb 16. Nothing's happened for three months? Maybe the old joke 'shortly we'll be arriving in Adelaide. You'll need to set your clocks back half an hour and 20 years' is still current?
* Comparing PEPR approvals in 2021 (7 by this time of year) & 2020 (9 between Mar-May), this year's tally of ONE appears out of sync.
* Has there been a department culling or zombie attack? There are 169 from the department on Linked In, numbers see
m pretty steady over the past three years, and I could find only 3 DEM job vacancies posted.
* Does the state election cause government departments to grind to a halt? I've never worked in one, so don't know that answer.
* Have all the PEPR applications gotten that much more complex this year, that only one has been approved? Seems unlikely. A meteorite hasn't impacted SA and changed the geology overnight.
* Has the law changed? Yes.
An updated Mining Act 1971, Mines and Works Inspection Act 1920 and Opal Mining Act 1995, and associated regulations, commenced on 1 January 2021.
* On the DEM's website here may be what's relevant for RNU holders: https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/minerals/mining/mining_compliance/changes_to_a_mining_operation
an application for change in operations must be prepared in accordance with Division 7 of the Mining Act, Part 12 of the Mining Regulations, and blah blah blah... A regulatory guideline, drafted to assist with the change in operations process, will be finalised in 2021. (another part of their system that appears um, sluggish)
* IMO the scale up of RNU's operation may have caused the PEPR process to restart, and work its way through the department's small or perhaps backed up newly regulated approvals intestine a second time.
Maybe we should start a roster for Adelaide-based holders to drop by the DEM's Waymouth St HQ with some Port Elliot bakery tasties and good coffee, to get that movement forthcoming.
