On 19 September 2025, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited decision in Richmond v Warden Thomas McPhee [2025] WASC 387, ruling that applicants for exploration licences under the Mining Act 1978 WA are not required to include a five-year work program and budget in the section 58 statement that accompanies their application.
The case concerned a judicial review of decisions made by the Warden’s Court in the 2022 case of True Fella and subsequent cases (which we have previously reported on) in which the applications were rejected for non-compliance on the basis that the five-year requirement was not observed.
The Supreme Court found that the Warden had made a jurisdictional error and that there was no mandatory requirement for a five-year program and budget in a section 58 statement.
The ruling restores certainty for exploration licence applicants, ensuring applications are valid if they include details for an initial stage, with subsequent stages being dependent on those results. Applications previously impacted and stayed are now being heard by the Warden.