Mining Law and Policy

Finally, international mining law and policy are presented in one excellent and practical book. Practitioners, non-lawyers, professors and students should all study John Southalan’s book and keep it on their shelves both as a summary of the field and as an incredible resource for deeper research. Overall, this is a practical book that will be useful on many levels. For students of mining law and policy, the book makes the entire subject matter easily accessible and interesting. For professors, the book is an excellent starting point for presenting the material by providing thought-provoking questions to consider and sample tests (with answers). For practitioners in private practice, government positions or within industry, this book will provide a well-organised and much-needed point of entry into any specific issue being addressed. However, the book is also a source from which can be taken an easily understandable basic education in law and policy that attorneys are often asked to provide to clients, regulators, policy-makers and non-lawyers in the industry. Southalan has provided a great service to everyone involved in mining law and policy by the publication of this book. Read full review… - Robert Bassett, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, Vol 31, 2013 Mining Law and Policy is an impressive resource text for those in the mining or legal sector. … [Its] strength lies in its ability to be both a legal and policy summary text and a collection of reference material to direct further study. As an internationally focussed book that draws from the experiences of over 50 countries, this text serves as a useful companion piece for the industry and students alike. … To those without a legal or mining background this will be received as a grounding text, while to those with core knowledge of the subject, this text will serve as an exceptional policy and resource reference tool. Read full review… - Marianne Rose, Brief, November 2012 Mining Law and Policy: International Perspectives is more than a summary of mining law. It delves into the policy behind the development of the law; it considers subjects such as commercial issues, negotiation protections, tenure agreements whereby the mining company is assured of tenure for a time certain, joint ventures, the important topic of workplace safety, government approvals and devotes the better part of a chapter to environmental issues, a topic of interest at present in this State, with the coal seam gas debate that is occurring at present. … I commend the author for the level of detail, annotation and discussion, all of which are first rate. Read full review… - Brian Morgan, Hearsay, October 2012, 57

John Southalan is an Australian lawyer who has practised in commercial and human rights areas since the early 1990s. He worked originally with Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Australian national law firm) including on occupational health and safety matters in the resources sector, commercial disputes between gas & mining companies, and general commercial litigation.

Since 1998, John has mainly worked in relation to human rights and rule of law issues. He worked from 1998-2000 in Thailand, through the Australian Volunteers program, and has continued occasional volunteer work with the Burma Lawyers Council since then including research and writing and also law and human rights training on the Thai-Burma border.

John worked for over 5 years with an NGO and Australia’s human rights commission in relation to indigenous land rights. This included considerable input into industry and governmental reviews about mining and indigenous rights, and also involvement in the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development process.