764
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
[No. 27

ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS UNDER “THE MINING ACT AMENDMENT ACT, 1904.”

Leases in Mining Townships. (Section 4.)

1. For the purposes of these regulations “mining township” means a town as defined by “The Land Act, 1892.”

2. Any holder of a miner’s right may apply to the Warden for a lease of the surface of any land in any mining township.

3. Every application for a lease shall be made in writing to the Warden, and shall contain a statement of the situation of the land and the area applied for, the number of the section, if the land is a surveyed section, and the purposes for which the same is to be used.

4. The Warden shall have power to grant a lease of the surface of any such land as aforesaid under these regulations, notwithstanding that the land applied for may be held as a claim under any Mining Act.

5. If the land applied for is not a surveyed section, or only part of a surveyed section, the application shall be accompanied by a deposit of £3 to cover the expenses of surveying the same, and after the application has been finally dealt with there shall be refunded to the applicant any unexpended or unrequired balance remaining of the said deposit. Should, however, the survey cost more than the amount deposited, the applicant must pay the difference before a lease is issued to him.

6. The Warden, or the Mining Registrar, shall appoint a day for hearing the said application, such day to be not less than one month after the filing of the application.

7. On the day on which the application is filed, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, the applicant shall serve a copy of the application, showing thereon the date appointed for hearing the application, upon all adjoining owners or occupiers, and upon all persons whose interests may be obviously affected by the same.

8. Any person desiring to object to the granting of any lease shall, not later than forty-eight hours before the day appointed for hearing the application, give notice thereof by filing in the Registrar’s office a notice in writing of the nature of such objection, and shall serve on the applicant a duplicate original of such notice; and no person shall be entitled to appear and object unless he has duly given such notice, save any person to whom the Warden, at the hearing of the application, directs that notice be given. Such notice of objection shall in every case contain an address for service which shall be in the same district as the office in which the notice is filed, and all notices to be served on the objector shall be deemed to be validly served if served at such address.

9. After hearing the application and all objections thereto, the Warden may either refuse the same, or, with the consent of the Minister first obtained, grant a lease.

10. All applications for leases and all objections thereto now pending shall be heard and determined by the Warden, and shall have priority over all other applications for the same land as though such applications and objections had been made under these regulations.

11. The Warden shall have power to allow costs to or against any objector.

12. No lease shall be granted over any land upon which any mining operations are carried on, or over which any mining right or title exists, unless or until the holder of such mining right or title consents to such lease.

13. Every lease shall be for the surface of the land only, and no lease shall entitle the lessee to mine for gold upon the land leased, or to extract, dig, or search for any metals or minerals therein or thereon.

14. No lessee shall have any claim for compensation for any damage done, or which may be caused by or arise from mining operations legitimately carried on beneath the surface of the ground, and leases shall contain such special covenants relating to mining as may be deemed necessary by the Warden; nor where the land granted is situated upon a mining privilege shall the lessee have any claim for compensation for any injury or damage done to the said land by reason of mining operations lawfully carried on by the holder of the mining privilege on land adjoining, provided such injury or damage is not caused by any negligence or want of care on the part of such holder.

15. The rental for lands leased under these regulations shall be 10s. per annum for each section for business purposes, and 5s. per annum for each section for residence or other purposes, and where the land is not surveyed into sections shall be at the rate of £1 per acre or fractional part of an acre.

16. No transfer or assignment of, or any other dealing with, any lease shall be lawful without the consent of the Warden, and every such transfer, assignment, or other dealing shall be registered at the Warden’s office in the same manner as transfers, assignments, and other dealings with mining privileges under the principal Act, and the sum of 2s. 6d. shall be paid for each such registration; but where the instrument of transfer, assignment, or other dealing includes more than one lease, there shall be paid for each additional title the sum of 1s.

17. Leases may be in the form in the Schedule hereto, and all expenses in connection with the preparation of leases shall be borne and paid by the lessee.

18. Applications for renewal of leases heretofore granted by the Governor under any repealed Act, or under the principal Act, shall be made in the same manner as applications for new leases, except that the notices required to be served under clause 6 of these regulations need not be given and served.

19. The same fees shall be payable on all applications for leases or renewal of leases and objections thereto as are payable on applications for and objections to mining privileges.

20. Any person who is in occupation of any land in a mining township, and who has not obtained a lease therefor, or who is not the holder of a license for a residence or business site, may, within three months from the date of the gazetting of these regulations, apply for a lease of such land, and such applications shall have priority over all other applications for such land; and, failing such application by the occupier, then after the expiration of the said period any person may apply for a lease of the land, notwithstanding that any other person may be occupying the same.

The foregoing are in substitution for Regulation No. 135 of the principal regulations and Form numbered 97 in the Ninth Schedule thereto, and such regulation and form are hereby repealed accordingly.

21. These regulations shall not apply to Native ceded lands.

Mineral Prospecting Warrants. (Sections 12 to 23, inclusive, “Mining Act Amendment Act, 1904.”)

Sections 7 to 14 of the principal regulations, and the forms in the Schedules therein referred to, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.

(1.) Rent under Prospecting Warrants. (Sections 16 and 17.)—The rent payable under a prospecting warrant shall be 1d. an acre per annum for the first two years, 2d. for the third year, 3d. for the fourth year, and 6d. for the fifth year.

(2.) Rent under Leases.—The rent payable under a lease granted under section 16 of “The Mining Act Amendment Act, 1904,” shall be 2s. 6d. an acre or part of an acre per annum for the first two years, and 5s. an acre or part of an acre per annum for the remainder of the term; but, should the prescribed royalty exceed the amount of rent in any one year, such rent shall for that year cease.

(3.) The royalty payable under a lease shall be one twenty-fifth of the value of the mineral at the pit’s mouth, and such value shall be fixed before a lease is issued.

(4.) Labour under a Prospecting Warrant.—Within three months after the issue of a warrant the holder shall keep employed upon or in connection with the area comprised in the warrant at least four workmen for every area of 1,000 acres or under, and one additional workman for every 500 acres in excess of 1,000 acres.

(5.) Reports and Statements of Expenditure to be furnished.—The holder of a prospecting warrant shall every six months transmit to the Mining Registrar, at the Warden’s office from which the warrant was issued, a statement, verified by statutory declaration, of the amount expended during the preceding six months under the prospecting warrant, together with a short report of the nature of the prospecting operations during the same period. All such statements and reports shall be filed by the Registrar.

(6.) Labour under a Lease.—The lessee shall, within six months after the date of the lease, commence and thereafter during the term of the lease continually prosecute mining operations on the demised land for the specified mineral, and for that purpose shall at all times during the first two years of the term keep employed upon or in connection with the demised land and his said mining operations thereon at least one workman for every full area of 50 acres or less therein contained, and thereafter during the term at least two workmen for every such area, provided as follows:—

(a.) For the purpose of compliance with the aforesaid labour conditions there shall be included all work done in the construction or erection of machinery or in preparations indispensable to the actual commencement of mining operations.

(b.) To the extent of one-half of the number of workmen which should otherwise be employed the expenditure of capital shall be equivalent to the employment of workmen in the proportion of one man for every £1,000 of capital which shall be expended by the lessee in plant or permanent works for the purpose of mining for the specified mineral.

(7.) Refunds of Deposits.—Refunds of the sums deposited by an applicant for a warrant or lease shall from time to time be made in sums of not less than £50 on the certificate of an Inspector of Mines that at least £100 has been expended