New HCA Judgment

The High Court handed down one new judgment today:

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

The High Court allowed an appeal from the Full Court of New South Wales regarding the royalties which are payable upon the mining of copper. The Mining Act 1992 (Cth) provides for different treatment in terms of royalties between “privately owned” and “publically owned” minerals. In England, the Case of Mines (1568) 1 Plowden 310 [75 ER 472] had held that ownership of mined gold was within the royal prerogative. The Appellant in this case mined copper and gold which was commixed in a manner that did not allow for separation until after mining had occurred. The question was whether the prerogative in the Case of Mines has survived in such away that would attach it to the commixed copper being mined. The Court found that the s 3 of the Royal Mines Act 1688 (Imp) 1 Wm & Mar c 30 had displaced the prerogative in a manner that allowed for the copper to be treated as a “privately owned” mineral for the purposes of the Mining Act.

The case is interesting historically, but also contains some contemporarily relevant discussion of the nature of the prerogative and its displacement.