Mining Law in Western Australia has been established for more than 25 years as an essential reference for all legal issues relating to the mining industry. This new edition, the fourth, will be widely and warmly welcomed. Massive changes have taken place. There have been 15 amendments to the Mining Act and 28 amendments to the Mining Regulations since the third edition. In that period, there has been a substantial volume of case law through decisions in the High Court, the Supreme Court and the Wardens" Courts. Other significant changes have arisen as a result of another seven years" experience of the impact of the Native Title Act upon the application of mining law. The most important changes for practitioners of mining law have been made in the area of proceedings before the warden where, the administrative and judicial functions of the warden have been separated. The new edition reflects all these changes and states the law as at 1 October 2008 but some developments as a consequence of the change of the State Government since then have been noted. The basic structure of previous editions is retained - chapter by chapter commentary which follows the layout of the Mining Act itself. Although the book deals with mining law in Western Australia, it has always been regarded as having a relevance to the mining industry in other States and the Northern Territory, as broadly similar principles apply throughout Australia. This relevance has been enhanced in the fourth edition because of the expanded coverage of case law and native title issues.