Feb. 18.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 631

58. Before granting the application for amalgamation of claims, the Warden shall be satisfied that there has been expended in mining operations on each of the claims not less than £10.

RENEWAL OF LICENSES FOR MINING PRIVILEGES.

59. Subject, in the case of tunnel prospecting licenses, to the provisions of clause 11 of these regulations, the following provisions shall apply with respect to the renewal of licenses for mining privileges :—

(1.) The application for the renewal may be in the form numbered 44 in the First Schedule hereto, and shall be filed in the office of the Registrar within not more than two months nor less than one month before the expiration of the current term by effluxion of time, but need not be notified or advertised.

(2.) The renewal shall be effected by indorsement on the original license.

LABOUR CONDITIONS.

Prescribed Number of Workmen.

60. For the purposes of section 98 of the Mining Act the number of workmen to be employed by the holder of a claim in mining operations shall be in the proportion of not less than one workman for every complete 6 acres of the area of the claim during the first year, computed from the date on which by that section the operations are required to be commenced; one workman for every complete 4 acres during the second such year; and one workman for every complete 3 acres thereafter:

Provided that at no time shall the number so employed be less than one in the case of an ordinary or extended claim, and two in the case of a special claim:

Provided further that, in the case of a claim the title whereto is surrendered for purposes of exchange or amalgamation, the minimum number to be employed shall be computed from the date on which the claim was originally taken up.

61. In every case where the holder of a claim alleges that, under subsections (b), (e), or (f) of section 99 of the Mining Act, he is entitled to employ less than the prescribed minimum number of workmen, it shall lie on him to establish the facts to the Warden’s satisfaction, and for that purpose he shall, in addition to other evidence, furnish such sworn returns as to workmen employed, capital expended, and otherwise as the Warden thinks necessary.

62. In the case of a mineral license the licensee shall, within two months after the date of the license, commence, and thereafter during the term of the license continually prosecute, mining operations on the land the subject of the license, for the specified metals or minerals to which the license relates, and for that purpose shall, except as aforesaid, at all times during the first two years of the term keep employed upon or in connection with the said land 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 that the Warden may from time to time modify the operation of this clause to such extent as he deems equitable, such modification being, however, in every instance made within the same limits, and subject to the same conditions, mutatis mutandis, as in the case of a claim.

Certificates of Reduction.

63. The application, under section 98, of the Mining Act, for authority to employ less than the prescribed minimum number of workmen may be in the form numbered 24 in the First Schedule hereto, and with respect to the application the following provisions shall apply:—

(1.) The application need not be publicly notified by advertisement nor posted on the mining privilege unless the Warden otherwise directs.

(2.) The application may be granted in whole or in part, as the Warden thinks fit, and, if granted, shall be granted by certificate of reduction in the form numbered 45 in the First Schedule hereto.

(3.) The certificate shall be registered in the same manner as in the case of a certificate of protection.

64. When disposing of any application for a certificate of reduction, the Warden, for the purpose of determining the extent to which the prescribed number of workmen should be reduced, and the period for which the reduction should be granted, shall not confine himself to merely temporary exigencies, but shall have regard to all the circumstances fairly affecting the matter, including the following considerations:—

(1.) In the case of a claim to be worked by hydraulic sluicing, the nature and extent of the claimholders’ water-supply, the cost of procuring it, and the date when it will be fully available;

(2.) In every case, the number of workmen that can be reasonably and advantageously employed, having regard to the nature and extent of the ground and the extent of the water-supply; and

(3.) The extent, if any, to which the proposed reduction, or the period for which it may be granted, would lock up ground that otherwise might be reasonably and advantageously worked.

PROTECTION OF MINING PRIVILEGES.

Certificates of Protection.

65. The application for protection of mining privileges under section 160 of the Mining Act may be in the form numbered 25 in the First Schedule hereto, and if granted shall be granted by certificate of protection in the form numbered 46 in the First Schedule hereto.

As to Statutory Protection of Mining Privileges.

66. The provisions of section 162 of the Mining Act relating to protection without application shall apply only within the Middle Island or Stewart Island, and in cases only where the land is situated at an altitude of not less than 3,000 ft. above the sea-level; and the period of protection shall in every case be the period from the first day of May to the thirty-first day of October (inclusive) in each year:

Provided that the Warden may from time to time prescribe such lower altitude (being in no case less than 2,000 ft.) and such shorter period (between the aforesaid dates) as he thinks fit, having regard to the locality of the land and the normal snow-level. Such prescription may be either generally as to any specified locality or specifically as to any specific mining privileges, and may be made either of his own motion or on summary application, and shall be deemed to be sufficiently notified by publication in the Gazette.