Eureka! Miner's Right will stay

GOLD prospectors have welcomed a state government decision to retain the 156-year-old Miner's Right licence.The right to prospect, fossick or mine in Victoria _ won through the stand taken by miners and their supporters at Eureka in 1854 _ was under threat of being removed in a ''bureaucratic streamlining of processes''.However, the state's 5000 Miner's Right licence holders have had a win with yesterday's announcement it will be retained.''We will not only retain the Miner's Right but we will give prospectors and fossickers the option to apply for a two-year licence or a new 10-year licence,'' Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said.''The new 10-year Miner's Rights will be a cost-effective option and will mean less administrative red tape for the Victorians who hold them.''The Miner's Right is an authorisation certificate needed by prospectors or fossickers searching for gold and minerals on unreserved Crown land or private land.Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria president Rita Bentley said there was concern among Victoria's prospecting community that the Miner's Right was to be removed in a bureaucratic streamlining of processes.''The Miner's Right is considered a sacred document by prospectors. It has regulated prospecting in our goldfields since the days of Eureka,'' Ms Bentley said.''There was no way we were going to give it up and it's encouraging that the government recognises its importance.''Ballarat prospectors Cordell Kent and Max Muir were thrilled that the Miner's Right will stay after the doubt that surrounded its future.Mr Muir, who has been gold prospecting for up to 35 years, said health and tourism benefited from the activity.''Prospecting is a health activity, it's enjoyable and you get out there ... The other benefit is tourism,'' Mr Muir said.