Section 177 — Mineral Enactment 1999

(a)

for a period of three years from the date of submission of the report;

or

(b)

for a period of one year from the date of termination of the licence, whichever period shall so first expire, except with the written consent of the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence.

(2)

Subject to subsection (4), no information contained in any report submitted to meet the requirements as may be prescribed regarding any mining lease or proprietary

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mining licence to any authorised officer shall be disclosed by the authorised officer for a period of one year from the date of termination of the lease or licence except with the written consent of the holder of the mining lease or proprietary mining licence.

(3)

All information submitted in support of an application for a mineral tenement or for the renewal thereof and supplied to any authorised officer shall be kept confidential by the authorised officer –

(a)

where the application is refused, for a period of six months from the date of such refusal; or

(b)

where the application is approved, for a period of six months from the date of termination of the mineral tenement.

(4)

Nothing in subsection (1), (2) or (3) shall operate to prevent the disclosure of information where the disclosure is made -

(a)

for or in connection with the due administration of this Enactment;

(b)

for the purpose of any legal proceedings;

(c)

for the purpose of any investigation or inquiry conducted under this

Enactment;

(d)

to any consultant to the State Government or to any officer authorised in writing by the Secretary of Natural Resources to receive the information; or

(e)

for or in connection with the preparation by the State Government or

Federal Government of statistics in respect of exploration or mining operations.

(5)

In this section, "date of termination" means –

(a)

in relation to a prospecting licence, exploration licence and proprietary mining licence, the date of surrender, revocation or expiry of the licence, whichever shall first occur;

(b)

in relation to a mining lease, the date of surrender, forfeiture or expiry, whichever shall first occur.

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Prohibition on abuse of information obtained in official capacity.