The WA government appears to be making good on its commitment to streamline and modernise the state's mining approvals, having rolled out three key initiatives this week.

Put forward under WA's Fast-Tracking Mining Approvals Strategy, the changes focus on reducing duplication, enhancing regulatory efficiency and improving the overall user experience for industry stakeholders.

In a statement WA mines minister David Michael said a modernised framework would support responsible growth and provide the mining industry the certainty it needed to invest.

"The initiatives introduced this week build on our broader strategy to reduce red tape and support timely approvals without compromising environmental standards," he said.

"We are working hard to ensure mining approvals are efficient, but not at the expense of community expectations or the interests of Traditional Owners.

"The WA government has worked closely with peak industry organisations to shape these reforms, and their strong support reinforces our shared commitment to best practice regulation and sustainable growth."

EMA framework

The first initiative heralded by the minister is the Eligible Mining Activity framework, which has been designed to streamline approvals specifically for low-risk mining activities and allow the government to focus its resources on more complex and higher-risk applications.

It follows a trial that began in March, during which the criteria for EMA regulations were laid out.

In order for an activity to be considered an EMA, it must meet the following criteria:

Activity type

• Drilling and activities associated with drilling, including drill pads and sumps;
• Excavations (including scrape and detect operations, costeans and test pits) to a maximum depth of 4m; and
• Access tracks to support any of the above activities.

Activity Size

• An EMA notice may contain a number of eligible activities (such as drilling and excavations), however, the cumulative size of these activities cannot exceed two hectares per EMA notice.

Excavation Tonnage limit

• When an EMA notice contains excavations, the maximum quantity of material that can be disturbed per EMA Notice is 1000t.

However, a mining tenement may only have two active EMA notices – which can be submitted through the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration's Resources Online portal – at any time.

There is also a limit of five EMA notices that can be served on a tenement each financial year. Once this limit has been reached, exploration and prospecting activities must be applied for using a Program of Work.

EMA notices are also prevented from being lodged in certain areas, including those of particular environment sensitivity, reserves and freehold land, and must comply with a number of conditions regarding vegetation clearance.

MDCP and new Approvals Statement framework

The other two initiatives relate to the introduction of the Mining Development and Closure Proposal and the new Approvals Statement framework.

The MDCP, first suggested in 2023, has been designed to combine the previous Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan into a single document at the project approval stage, which cuts out the need to submit the same information for different processes and narrows down on the key information needed to evaluate a project.

Relevant requirements will also be scaled to the size and the risk of the activity.

Similarly, the new format for Approvals Statements will serve as a single source for all approved mining activities, outlining the corresponding approval conditions, closure outcomes for each operation and the review date for the Mine Closure Plan.

Government needs to maintain ‘laser-like focus'

While the reforms have been hailed as a strong step towards creating efficiencies for industry and government, mining-sector bodies argue the proof of their real-world impact could be in their staying power.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA policy and advocacy director Anita Logiudice said the initiatives showed how administrative burdens could be cut for both companies and regulators without compromising on environmental protections.

"The introduction of these new processes will hopefully bring down assessment timeframes and encourage investment in exploration and the new projects we need to sustain jobs and economic growth," Logiudice said.

"Competition for international capital is only getting fiercer. For WA to really capitalise on the opportunities presented by the energy transition it is vital the government maintains a laser-like focus on assessment efficiencies and leveraging technological advances.

"CME looks forward to working with DMPE to support the implementation of each of these new initiatives and identify further opportunities for improvements."