Cadia Holdings Pty Ltd v State of New South Wales [2010] HCA 27

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

FRENCH CJ,

GUMMOW, HAYNE, HEYDON AND CRENNAN JJ

CADIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD & ANOR APPELLANTS

AND

STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES & ANOR RESPONDENTS

Cadia Holdings Pty Ltd v State of New South Wales [2010] HCA 27

25 August 2010

S367/2009

ORDER

1. Appeal allowed with costs.

2. Set aside the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales made on 1 July 2009 and in lieu thereof order that the appeal to that Court be dismissed with costs.

On appeal from the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Representation

A J L Bannon SC with R C Scruby for the appellants (instructed by Marque Lawyers)

M G Sexton SC, Solicitor-General for the State of New South Wales with H R Sorensen for the respondents (instructed by Crown Solicitor (NSW))

Notice: This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.

CATCHWORDS

Cadia Holdings Pty Ltd v State of New South Wales

Mining – Ownership of minerals – Crown prerogative – Section 379 of the Mining Act 1992 (NSW) ("the Act") preserved any Crown prerogative in respect of mines of gold and silver – Ore mined on appellants' lands contained intermingled gold and copper, incapable of being separately mined – Royalty payable under the Act on gold and copper – Section 284 of the Act required Minister to pay seven-eighths of royalty paid on minerals not owned by or reserved to Crown to mineral owner – Whether intermingled copper owned by or reserved to Crown – Whether common law prerogative rights, as received in colony of New South Wales, included Crown ownership of intermingled copper – Whether Royal Mines Act 1688 (1 Wm & Mar c 30) excluded "mines of copper" from scope of prerogative recognised in Case of Mines (1568) 1 Plowden 310 [75 ER 472] – Whether mines on appellants' lands were "mines of copper".