The Queensland Government has released a discussion paper for changes to mining notification requirements, which have already been met with some controversy.

Queensland's Department of Natural Resources and Mines is pushing to allow only those directly affected by mine proposals to have a say in early planning.

The state department feels that there is too much public consultation bogging down the first steps toward new mining ventures.

Under the proposed changes some operations will be allowed to move ahead having only told landholders whose land would be mined, and the local council.

“We'll have low risk mining operations that will only have to notify directly affected landholders and the local council involved,” mining Minister Andrew Cripps said.

“What the public notifications will now take into consideration is the scale, risk and impact of a mining project to determine the extent of the notification that will be required.”

The community-based Lock the Gate Alliance says it threatens democratic rights.

“We definitely believe that landholders should not be made to stand up by themselves against huge multi-national mining corporations,” Alliance spokesperson Ellie Smith has told the ABC.

“Community groups should be able to stand with landholders and object to mining leases on their land.”

Mr Cripps says conservationists will have a say, but their objections must be raised through the Environmental Protection Act, instead of the Mineral Resources Act.

“What we're saying is that the objections and notifications process will be confined to those people directly affected by the mining lease, but we will allow ongoing objections to be made by third parties to the issuing of an Environmental Authority.

“At the moment we have a parallel process, one which involves the application for a mining lease under the Mineral Resources Act, and another that involves the issuing of an Environmental Protection Act,” he said.

The managing director of Red Metal, which holds exploration leases in Queensland, has welcomed the proposed changes.

“By reducing the amount of red tape a company has to go through to get from an exploration licence to a mining licence, you get the opportunity to take advantage of price windows in the commodity,” Red Metals’ Rob Rutherford has told reporters.

“If the prices go up, they don't stay up for a long time, so the quicker you can bring projects online, the better it is for investment in Queensland.”

Landholder David Hamilton has told the ABC that mining impacts extend further than the land on which they dig.

“The impacts of a mining operation don't stop at the farm gate. Neighbours are impacted, people downstream are impacted, and I think they should all have a right to have a say, and I would like to see more detail on the proposal,” he said.