JUNE 18.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1159

may remove or dismiss him if in the Minister’s opinion he works the drill or appliances in an improper manner, or is guilty of any misconduct in the performance of his duties, or his services are no longer required.

(5.) The applicants shall defray the cost of all necessary renewals and repairs and of the working and removal of the drill and appliances.

(6.) The Minister may allow the use of the drill and appliances free of rent, charges, &c., and may subsidise the persons employing the same in connection with prospecting for gold at deep levels to the extent of one-half the necessary expenses of renewals, repairs, and working, so long as the drill is employed in prospecting operations and not used for working a mine at a profit ; but the cost of all necessary tubing shall be borne entirely by the persons using the drill.

(7.) The amount of subsidy shall be based on approved vouchers of expenditure, and any claims for such expenditure may be amended or may be rejected if they appear to the Minister to be excessive or unreasonable.

(8.) The payment of subsidy up to the amount of £100 shall be deferred and the money be retained by the Minister until the drill and appliances are returned to the Mines Department, and any portion of the amount so retained shall, on the order of the Minister, be applied in making good any damage to or deficiency in the drill and appliances, and in defraying any expense incurred by the department through any breaches of the conditions on the part of the persons using the drill.

(9.) The drill and appliances shall at all times be subject to the inspection and supervision of an Inspector of Mines, or any other qualified person the Minister may appoint, and boring operations shall be suspended or absolutely discontinued, and the drill and appliances shall be removed from the control of the persons using the same, at any time on the order of the Minister.

Subsidies for Water-races and Storage Reservoirs.

114. Assistance by way of subsidy may be granted by the Minister towards the construction of water-races or storage reservoirs, and for that purpose the following provisions shall apply :—

(1.) Every application for assistance towards the construction of a water-race or storage reservoir shall be made to the Minister in writing, and shall be accompanied with a plan of the proposed work and an estimate of its cost.

(2.) The application shall also be accompanied with a statement showing the source of supply from which it is proposed to take the water, the area and estimated depth of proved auriferous ground that the proposed work would command, the number of miners actually engaged in carrying on mining operations within such area, and the extra number of miners that could be profitably employed if the proposed works were constructed.

(3.) On receipt of such application, plans, and statements the Minister shall cause an examination to be made and a report furnished to him by a qualified officer of the public service as to the extent and character of auriferous ground which the proposed work would be likely to command, the extent to which it would be for the benefit of the majority of the miners in the locality, and generally as to its utility.

(4.) After receiving such report, and upon being satisfied that the proposed work will be for the benefit of the majority of the miners in the locality, and also that the applicant’s proportion of the cost is available, the Minister may grant a subsidy towards the proposed work not exceeding one-third the total cost of construction, or he may refuse to grant any subsidy :

Provided that the subsidy shall not be granted until the applicant has supplied to the Minister detailed plans and longitudinal and cross sections of the ground where it is proposed to construct the race or reservoir, together with the dimensions of the channels, the length of tunnels, open ditching and fluming, and other detailed particulars of the proposed work, and a statement in detail of the cost of the proposed work, and the same have been submitted to and approved by the officer who furnished the aforesaid report.

(5.) No assistance shall be given in the case of a water-race if the carrying-capacity is less than fifteen sluice-heads of water, nor in the case of a storage reservoir if its storage-capacity is less than 20,000,000 cubic feet of water.

(6.) Before any assistance is granted towards the construction of any water-race or storage reservoir the rates to be charged for water therefrom shall be submitted to and approved by the Minister.

Subsidies to Local Authorities or Miners’ Associations in Aid of Prospecting.

115. In the cases, to the extent, and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth, the Minister may grant subsidies not exceeding pound for pound in respect of moneys expended by any local authority (being a County Council or, where “The Counties Act, 1886,” is not in operation, a Road Board) or any miners’ association in assisting prospecting operations ; and with respect to every such subsidy the following provisions shall apply :—

(1.) The local authority or miners’ association desiring the subsidy shall make application to the Minister, setting forth in detail its proposed scheme of assistance.

(2.) The total amount payable by the Minister in respect of subsidy in any one year shall not exceed, in the case of a County Council or a miners’ association, £500, and in the case of a Road Board, £300 : Provided that in no case shall any subsidy be payable unless the scheme of assistance is approved by the Minister, and is in accordance with these regulations.

(3.) The scheme of assistance may comprise the purchase of boring appliances for use in prospecting operations, or the payment of money to parties of prospectors under the hereinafter-mentioned Classes I. or II.,