The necessity to establish whether or not a proposed mining licence on public land has a pre-existing claim of continued association, and therefore ownership by the indigenous peoples of the region, continues to be another hurdle that all miners both big and small must overcome before a licence to mine will be granted.

Mining companies and individuals wishing to mine on public land must submit their application and then sit back and wait to see if native title is claimed over the proposed licence area, which it usually is. The onus is then on the licence applicant to pay the expenses incurred by native title research officers that have a right to inspect the proposed licence area for evidence of indigenous use in the past. Although the claimants must prove a pre-existing and continuous association with the licence area there is no time limit on this process and it can take many months or years to go before a Native Title Tribunal hearing to establish if native title has been extinguished.

The other, more expedient option for the miner is to negotiate a waiver of the native title process by bowing to the demands of the native title claimants of the area through "Native Title Services Victoria"(1). This can take the form of profit share, cash payment up front and jobs for local indigenous persons. Whilst the developers of proposed large scale mining operations have better scope to negotiate with those claiming native title, the same cannot be said for small scale operators.

Miners on licences of 5 hectares or less generally don't employ anyone apart from themselves in the venture. What profit there is left after the bills have been paid and a wage drawn is usually put back into the venture to ensure it's continued viability. As far as the small miner is concerned the only options are a one of payment to have the native title process waived or wait for the courts to decide, and that could take longer than most small miners are prepared to wait.

To date, negotiations between the PMAV and "Native Title Services Victoria" (formally "Mirimbiak Nations") have proven unsuccessful. The PMAV has proposed a standard once only fee that will apply across the board on all new mining licences of less than 5 hectares. This has not been greeted favourably by NTSV as they consider the proposed fee to be too small. Negotiations are continuing.

It should be noted that Native Title does not impact on prospectors operating on a Miners Right. Native Title Services Victoria are the Legal representatives for Victoria's Indigenous communities in land rights matters.