Queensland government lifts new small-scale mining claim ban, proposes new, short-term leases

For more than 30 years, Murray Ungerer has hand-mined sapphires on a small patch of land he is confident he can sustainably mine for another 30.  

But the Queensland government could put a stop to that under a new proposal to cap small-scale mining tenures at 15 years to crack down on people building permanent structures on claims.