TRANSITIONAL PROSPECTING RIGHTS: A MORATORIAL ESCORT ACROSS THE BRIDGE? De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd v Regional Manager, Mineral Regulation Free State Region: Department of Minerals and Energy Case 1590/2007 (OPD) Unreported (15-05-2008) (“De Beers (2)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/obiter.v32i2.12269Keywords:
transitional arrangements, conversion, “old-order rights”, prospecting or mining rights, transitional prospecting rightsAbstract
On 1 May 2004 the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) not only introduced a new mineral law regime in South Africa but also made provision in the transitional arrangements of Schedule II to the MPRDA for the conversion of so-called “old-order rights” into (or application for) prospecting or mining rights in terms of the MPRDA. This decision dealt with the duration or term of transitional prospecting rights and the remedies available to a holder of an “old-order prospecting right” upon refusal by the state functionaries to convert the right into a prospecting right in terms of the MPRDA. Item 6 of the transitional arrangements makes provision for the continuation and conversion of “old-order prospecting rights”.
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