§182-6 Exploration. Any person wishing to conduct geothermal or mineral exploration on state lands or reserved lands shall apply to the board, which shall issue exploration permits upon terms and conditions as it shall by rule prescribe. During and as a result of the exploration, no minerals of types and quantity beyond that reasonably required for testing and analysis shall be extracted and removed from the state lands or reserved lands. Upon termination of the exploration permit, all exploration data, including but not limited to the drill logs and the results of the assays resulting from the exploration, shall be turned over to the board and kept confidential by the board. If the person does not make application for a mining lease of the lands within a period of six months from the date the information is turned over to the board, the board in its discretion need not keep the information confidential.
This section shall be construed as authorizing the board to issue an exploration permit for geothermal resources as well as minerals. [L 1963, c 11, pt of §1; Supp, §99A-6; HRS §182-6; am L 2012, c 97, §4; am L 2016, c 220, §6]