REGULATIONS

For the granting of Gold Mining Leases in the Province of Otago.

PART I.—APPLICATIONS.

1. What lands may be leased.

Auriferous Crown Lands in the Province of Otago may be leased under these Regulations except—

(1.) The whole or any part of any land which any person other than the applicant is entitled to occupy and actually does occupy for mining purposes or for residence by virtue of a miner’s right or business license.

(2.) The whole or any part of any land in or over which any person other than the applicant has any interest or authority other than those above-mentioned which he may lawfully use or exercise for mining purposes or for discovering the existence of gold or other metal or mineral.

(3.) Lands containing within their boundaries any river stream of permanent water or spring which may be required for public purposes or for the use of miners generally.

2. Areas.

The area of ground that may be demised under any Gold Mining Lease shall not exceed ten acres in the whole of alluvial ground or an area of four hundred yards by two hundred yards on a quartz reef.

3. Boundaries of land applied for to be defined.

Persons intending to apply for a lease of auriferous Crown lands shall previous to making application as hereinafter directed erect or cause to be erected at each angle of the land proposed to be leased a post three inches square and standing at least three feet in height above the surface of the ground or where that is not practicable a cairn of stones two feet in height shall be erected at each corner of the land and trenches not less than six inches in depth shall be cut for a distance of five feet on either side of such cairns or posts in the direction of the boundaries of the land proposed to be leased and such posts or cairns and trenches shall be maintained at the expense of the applicant until the application shall have been granted or refused.

4. Mode of application.

Applications shall be made in the form in the Schedule hereto annexed marked A in triplicate to the Warden of the district within which the land so applied for is situate and shall be lodged in such Warden’s office by the applicant in person or his agent.

5. Costs of survey to be paid by the applicant to the District Surveyor.

Upon receipt of such application the Warden shall direct the applicant or his agent to pay to the District Surveyor a sum calculated according to the scale in the Schedule to these Regulations...

6. Survey and report to Warden.

Upon receipt of payment from the applicant the District Surveyor shall make the survey and furnish a copy to the Warden together with a report as to the area boundaries and description thereof the character of the ground the likelihood of any river creek or permanent water spring or artificial reservoir which may be included within the boundaries of the said land being required for public purposes or for the use of miners generally, and also as to any claims to prior occupancy which shall come to his knowledge inquiry as to which it shall be his duty to make while making the said survey, and to furnish a plan of such land together with a tracing of so much of the general map of the district as will be sufficient to connect the particular area applied for with at least one trigonometrical station or in the absence of any such with some fixed point.

7. Date to be fixed for hearing.

Upon receipt of any such application the Warden shall appoint a day for the hearing thereof being not less than fourteen (14) days from the date of the receipt of such application Immediately on fixing the day of hearing the Warden shall forward the application to the Superintendent who will at once publish the same in the Provincial Government Gazette and in conformity with section 29 of the “Gold Fields Act 1866” notify his intention to grant a lease of the whole or a portion of the land applied for if there shall be no valid objection at the hearing before the Warden and such notification may be in the form of the Schedule hereto annexed and marked (H).

8. Application to be advertised and posted.

Every such application shall be advertised not less than twice by and at the expense of the applicant in such newspaper circulating in the district as the Warden shall direct and a copy of such application shall be posted and maintained on the ground until the day of hearing and copies of the newspapers containing such advertisement shall be produced to the Warden before he shall proceed to hear the application.

9. Priority of application.

In the event of more than one application being made for the same land or any part thereof the Warden shall determine which of the applicants shall be held to have the prior right and in so doing shall be guided by priority of occupation provided that it shall be shown that the prior occupant has used reasonable diligence in lodging his application.

10. Protection during application.

All lands for which application shall have been made in the manner aforesaid are exempt from occupation from the date of such application until the same shall have been granted or refused.

11. Applications to be recorded.

The Warden shall cause every such application to be duly recorded in the “Leases Record Book” of his office.

12. Survey to be made and notice posted.

The Surveyor shall prior to the day fixed for hearing as aforesaid make the survey and shall place a notice in the form of the Schedule hereto annexed marked B in some conspicuous place on the said ground.

PART II.—OBJECTIONS.

13. Objectors to give notice.

Any person objecting to the issue of a lease so applied for shall prior to the hearing forward to the Warden a full statement in writing of his objections and shall (except in cases of encroachment) deposit the sum of five pounds (£5) with the Receiver of Gold Revenue (who shall give a receipt to the person making such deposit) as security for the due prosecution of his objections and payment of any expenses to which the applicant may be put by such objections if disallowed and if such objections shall not be prosecuted or shall be disallowed so much of such deposit may be handed over to the applicant as the Warden may award and the balance (if any) shall be refunded to the person so objecting.

14. Cases of encroachment.

When an application shall have been made for a lease of any land to the whole or any part of which any person other than the applicant shall claim to be entitled by virtue of a prior occupation under a miner’s right or business license the objection to the granting of such lease may be heard by the Warden in the same way as any other case of encroachment or interference.