THE NEW MINING BILL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 16

THE NEW MINING BILL.

The mining law of the colony, scattered as it is throughout several Acts of Parliament, is not altogether satisfactory. The attempt of the Government, therefore, to amend and consolidate it in a single Bill will be weicciued by all interested m mining. The Bill recently introduced is practically the Ml of last session, wich slight modifications in the direction of amplifying ambiguous sections, although in some instances important amendments have been introduced. There are 301 sections in the Bill, and, as many of these have a number of sub-sections following, ie is a somewhat lengthy document. There are 10 parts, each dealing with a section of the mining law, and this will be found a very handy arrangement. Part I consists mainly of interpretation clauses. Part II deals with the manner *vi constituting mining districts, and of appointing wardens and other goldfields officials. Part 111 deals with lauds :-ibjeefc to the provisions of the Bill, aad describes the class of lands which may bo exempted from the operations of the Act. Provision is also made for prospecting on Native lands, and for prospecting upon private lands, similar to those in previous Acts. The consent of the owner or oc-

cupior of private lands must be cb.'.u:K<l in tho case of all lands alien* i ft! horn tho Crown prior to the 29th day of September, 1873, or, in the case of Native owners, prior to the 30th August, 1888, provided that the aforesaid lands " were not comprised within any mining district on the 17th day of October, 189 G." The provisions for resumption of lands contained in the Act of 1890 have been embodied in the Bill wKd very little alteration. Provision is made for tho owner of private land, or any person with the written consent of the owner, making application to the warden for any description of claim authorised by the Act, as in the ease of Crown lands, and the warden may in his discretion grant the same. " So long as the license continues in force the land comprised therein shaa not bo resumed for raining purposes nor shall any prospecting license 'o granted in respect thereof." Part IV deals with miners' rights and the privileges thereof. In this of the Bill the existing law refsrririo, to the privileges conferred by miners' rights is altered. Miners' rights may bo issued by any warden, mining registrar,

or duly authorised postmaster, an-1 shall continue in force for 12 months from . the date of issue. The annual fee for a miner's right will be, as heretofore, 10s, but 20s if it relates to Native lands ceded to the Crown. Sections 27, 29, 33, 3-1, 35, and

3'j of the Act of 1891 are altered as regards consolidated miner's rights* A consolidated miner's right may be issued to any person "as beneficial holder thereof/ and shall confer all privileges of an ordinary miner's right. A consolidated miner's right may comprise any number of miner's rights, and the fee payable shall be equal to the fees payable in the aggregate in respect of such miner's rights. In the case of mining partnership a consolidated miner's right shall specify the full name of each member of the partnership at the date of issue. As long as it remains in force t-e beneficial holder shall be deemed to be the holder of all the miner's rights comprised in the document. The provisions for prospeetiug are amplified in the Bill, and important alterations are made, as compared with the provisions now in force. While the holder of a miner's right is entitled, in virtue of that document, to prospect on any Crown lands, a prospecting license must bo taken out to obtain the exclusive privilege to prospect for any specified metal or mineral on land within a mining;

district other than Native Jaads. An " extended prospecting license " confers the privilege of prospecting on any land, other than Native land, outside of a mining district, while an "ordinary Native prospecting license" admits of prospecting on Native lands. In the case of prospecting on private lands the owner is insured against damage, a sufficient .security being lodged with the warden for the purpose. Compensation for any permanent damage must be paid to the owner cf private lands, and tho warden is to assess the amount of such cmpen-jfition. The provisions relating to tho taking up of chums are altered in some particulars, but not very materially from the existing provision I.1 '. Section 87 of the Act of 1891 relating to mineral licenses is altered and extended, provision being made for issuing licenses authorising tlic holder thereof to occu]n r any Crown land within or outside a mining district for the purpose of mining for any mineral or metal other than gold The area of land included in a mineral license is not to exceed 320 acres, and an annual rental of 2s 6d an aero has to be paid. With regard to the privileges conferred by water licenses, provision is made under certain conditions for entering upon private lands. The provisions for setting apart watercourses for the discharge of tailings are somewhat different from those contained in the Acts now in force. It is proposed to gire ihe Governor-iu-Couneil power to constitute by proclamation any watercourse, whether within a mining district or not, a receptacle for ile deposit of tailings, etc., but provision is made for safeguarding riparian rights. As regards compensation, the total amount payable shall in no case be more than the improved value of Uic claimant's estate*

; according to the valuation made for the purposes of "Tho Land and Income | Assessment Act, 1891," or " The Government Valuation of Land Act, 1896." | Section 79 of the Act of 1891 referring ' to the protection of mining privileges is altered in some particulars. Tho warden has power to grant protection for any period less than sis months, but if a longer period is desired the warden has to forward the application to the Minister for his consent. Protection shall in no case be given beyond a period of x' 2 months. The provisions for forfeiture of mining privileges by decree of ti.e Warden's Court are the same as those already in operation, with one or two i minor alterations. Sections 51, 52, and | 53 of the 1891 Act are altered. Accordto section 168 of the Bill, " The Contrac- j tors' and Workmen's Lien Act, 1892," and '•The Workmen's Wages Act, 1893," are to apply to all mining privileges, ex- j eeptiug that all reference in those Acts to the magistrate or Magistrate's Court shall be construed to mean the warden or Warden's Court. Part V of. the Bill defines the provisions for the working, regulation, and inspection of mines. No less than 41 .sections of the Bill are contained in this part, a good many alterations and additions to the existing regulations bHnq; made. The clause prohibiting shavebrokers from acting as managers or secretaries of mining companies is a very necessary provision, and roe tl'it certainly ought to be retained | in spite of the opposition to it in certain quarters. Part VI deals with the regulation of appliances and processes for testing ores and metals, the provisions of the Act of 1891 being simply transferred without alteration. Part'VlT, ! dealing with compensation, contains nothing that is new. There are some new features in the provisions regulating mining partnerships in Part VIII, | but none of very great importance. I Part IX deals with the administration of justice. TII3 most important altcraI lion in this part of the Bill is that refer- | ring to the question of appeals from the decisions of the Warden's Court. In the Bill of last session it was proposed to I carry appeals to the Supreme Court, and in an article commenting upon tho Bill iv our issue of November 9 last we directed special attention to the improve- ; n.ent that would make in the existing ; law in the direction of securing imiforj mity m mining law throughout the ; colony We pointed out that different interpretations of the law were made in different districts by the District Court, ! and that this leads to no end of confusion and litigation. In the Bill that provision ijas been altered, and appeals are to be made to the District Court. This j we take to be a retrograde procedure, as appeals to the District Court must cause endless delay, and the various leadings of the mining law in different | districts will certainly lead to confusion , j whereas by appealing to the Supreme Court litigants would hove the law uniformly interpreted, until reversed by a | higher tribunal. Part, Xof the Bill contains a number of miscellaneous provisions and regulatione, all of which are important to the mining industry. The Bill, which has been read a second time and referred to the Mining Committee, will no doubt como in for a good clenl of discussion before it is finally dealt with by Parliament.