The information below re mining licences is from the book, ‘Private Lives, Public Records’ published by the Public Record Office Victoria. Mining licensing: Records relating to the mining industries have been created both centrally by major departments, such as Mines Department (VA 612) and at local levels by mining registrars, mining wards and Courts of Mines. VPRS 7848 Register of Applications for Mineral Search licences 1862-1913 The Land Act 1862 introduced provisions for the granting of licences to search for any metal or mineral other than gold on any Crown land not under lease. This series is comprised of a register of applications for licences to search for minerals within Victoria. This register was used to allocate a unique number to each licence application as well as to record a history of the licence through to expiry or cancellation. VPRS 7842 Register of Applications for Gold Mining Leases 1859-1972 Register of mining lease applications maintained centrally by the Mines Departments from i859 to 1972. It was used to allocate a unique number to each application within a mining district as well as to record a history of each lease. Summary details about the application, the warden's report and recommendation, and the particulars of the lease itself were recorded on the left-hand side of each folio. The right-hand side of the folio contains a chronological summary of correspondence relating to the lease. VPRS 602 Gold Mining Lease Files 1859-1972 Gold mining teases (often known simply as mining leases) could be granted to a person or body corporate to entitle them to mine or undertake associated mining activity on Crown land. The leaseholder was also entitled to reside on the land. Taking out a lease usually involved an obligation to keep a certain number of men in employment (known as a labour covenant). Files contain correspondence and documents relating to the administration of the lease, including: the application; survey of the area; rental payments; issue and gazettal of the lease; consents and agreements. In many cases the final status of the lease (e.g. void, cancelled, expired) is recorded on the file cover or top sheet. [Please note that the location of files created prior to 1918 is unknown. For summary information about applications made between 1859 and 1917, see VPRS 7842 Register of Applications for Gold Mining Leases.] The PROV web site is prov.vic.gov.au Cheers Anne Hanson