Why, in this day and age of GPS (where we can locate ourselves to millimetres), geographic information
systems (GIS) designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present all types of geographical data, including Google maps, are we still required to mark out tenements as if we are in the 18th century. We waste a lot of time and money marking out tenements and still dispute whether a tenement has been correctly located and marked out.

A recent case Aruma Exploration Pty Ltd v Maxwell Peter Strindberg 2017 WAMW 18 is an example of the failure of the current legislation. Aruma Exploration pegged a prospecting licence and placed the Form 20 on the last peg they put in the ground, not the first peg. Max Strindberg lodged an Objection to the Prospecting Licence on the grounds the Form 20 was not placed on the first peg (the datum as described on Form 20). The Warden decided that the description of datum on the Form 20 is only a convenient way to describe the prospecting licence and does not take on the meaning of Datum under Regulation 59 (c) of Mining Regulations 1981 therefore the Form 20 can be placed on any peg.

The antiquated requirement to peg mining leases and prospecting licences can be easily be simplified and updated by just removing the requirement. In this day and age pegging is not required as GPS can be purchased for $150 and no explorer is in the field without one. DMIRS are moving in correct direction by only requiring a miscellaneous licence just to have one peg, the datum, and removing the requirement to reaffix the Form 21 once stamped by the mining registrar.