Run your own mineral titles — without guessing.
A mineral title is a conditional, time-limited right that stays alive only while you meet its obligations — and those obligations run whether or not you are working the ground. These guides set out exactly what is required of you, state by state, in the order you meet it — with the processes drawn as flow charts so you can see where you are and what comes next.
One guide for every state and territory — Queensland is out now.
Compliance is the biggest risk to your tenure.
Not the geology, and not the market — compliance. Titles are lost to a missed rent payment, an expenditure return that never went in, or a renewal that was not lodged in time. That last one is final: the title ends automatically on expiry, and a late renewal will not bring it back. Keeping tenure comes down to two things — knowing exactly what your obligations are, and understanding the lifecycle your title moves through, from application and grant through the working years to renewal and expiry. The requirements are public, but they sit scattered across the Act, the regulations, departmental practice and the fine print on your own conditions. These guides gather them into one plain-English path per jurisdiction.
The asymmetry is stark. The cost of compliance is small and predictable. The cost of losing tenure is large, and usually irreversible — the ground, the money already spent proving it up, the priority you hold over competitors, and the pathway to production.
Money
Rent, fees and royalty, paid in full and on time. Unpaid rent is the single most common avoidable cause of losing a title — and the easiest to diarise.
Work
The work program you committed to, actually carried out, with any expenditure commitment met. Under-delivery is a breach of condition and it weighs against you at renewal.
Reporting
Activity reports, expenditure statements, relinquishment reports and royalty returns — in the right form and format, by their due dates. A report the department cannot accept is a report not lodged.
Conduct
Your conditions, the Land Access Code, and your agreements with landholders and native title and cultural heritage parties. Good conduct on the ground is a condition of tenure, not a courtesy.
183 pages, in the order you meet them
Ten chapters following a title through its whole lifecycle — from working out whether the ground is even available, through grant, the working years and renewal, to rehabilitation and surrender. Queensland only, under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 — and it covers coal as well as minerals, which matters here in a way it does not in most states. Current at 20 July 2026.
- 1FoundationsWhat a tenement is, how it is measured, and what is actually at stake when an obligation slips.
- 2Why tenement management mattersThe four things that must all be right, and what tenure loss really costs.
- 3Applying for a mineral or coal titleEligibility, land availability, and the application itself.
- 4Small-scale mining and the gemfieldsThe permits and claims used by small operators and gemfield holders.
- 5Grant to expiryManaging a title through its working life.
- 6Keeping your titleRent, royalty, expenditure, reporting and compliance.
- 7DealingsTransferring, mortgaging and dealing in an interest in a title.
- 8Land access and landholdersEntry, conduct and compensation on someone else’s country.
- 9Native title and cultural heritageThe two regimes, and the duties they place on you.
- 10The environmental sideYour environmental authority, rehabilitation and closure.
- ◇Flow charts throughoutEach process drawn as a map — what happens next, what is required of you, by when, and the points where the path can branch or deviate.
- +Reference apparatusA plain-English glossary and acronym list, a register of the forms you will need, a directory of official sources, quick-reference checklists, and a full alphabetical index.
Where to start
Nobody reads it cover to cover. A table at the front points you at your own chapters:
- An explorer or exploration company Start with applications, the working life of a title, and your reporting and expenditure duties.
- A producing miner Start with all of it — the compliance and environmental chapters are your core.
- A professional adviser Start with all of it, plus the resources chapter and the forms register.
- A small-scale or gemfield operator Start with the foundations, the small-scale chapters, and the obligations you carry.
- A landholder Start with land access, compensation, and the native title and cultural heritage chapters.
Self-Managing Your Mineral Titles: Queensland
183 pages, current at 20 July 2026. Ten chapters, flow charts throughout, ten checklists, a forms register, a glossary and a full index — everything you need to hold, work and keep a mineral or coal tenement in Queensland — exploration, small-scale, extractive and production alike.
A$380
For less than two hours of a consultant’s time, this manual becomes your companion for the many questions that come up — the answers at your fingertips, day or night, weekday or weekend.
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An edition for every jurisdiction
The rules change at the border. Each edition is written for its own state or territory, so you're never reading around rules that don't apply to you. The Queensland edition is out now, with the rest following close behind. Each in its own colours, shown below.