Section 71, The Mines and Minerals Act, 2009

(1) The Mining Cadastre Office shall forward anapplication for the grant of an exploration licence to the Minerals (2) Where the Minerals Advisory Board has determined that an application for the grant of an exploration licence has met all the requirements under the Act for such licence the Board shall certify to the Minister in the prescribed form that it advises that the the mining cadastre register of mineral rights applications. (3) Subject to section 73, an application for an exploration licence certified by the Board and meeting all the criteria set out in section 70 and prescribed in regulations shall be granted or refused by the Minister.