The Short Title of this Act is “The Mining Act Amendment Act, 1899,” and it shall form part of and be read together with “The Mining Act, 1898” (hereinafter called “the principal Act”).

The Governor, by regulations under the principal Act, may provide for the issue of antedated miners’ rights in such cases and on such terms as to fees and otherwise as he thinks fit, and every such miner’s right shall for the purposes of the Mining Act or any former Mining Act operate and take effect as on and from the antedate.

The regulations heretofore made relating to antedated miners’ rights shall be as valid as if made after the commencement of this Act and in exercise of the powers hereby conferred.

In the case of land situate outside a mining district all the powers and functions which by the principal Act or this Act are conferred upon the Warden and Registrar respectively for receiving and disposing of applications for prospecting warrants, prospecting licenses, and licenses for mining privileges in respect of water, are hereby transferred to and shall hereafter be exerciseable by the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the land district in which the land is situate:

Provided that this section shall not operate in the case of applications relating to Native land or to land situate partly within a mining district and partly outside the same.

Subsection two of section ninety-eight of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof it is hereby declared that in every case where the application is for a claim or other mining privilege requiring to be marked out the following provisions shall apply:—

The applicant shall mark out the land before filing the application.

For the purpose of marking out the land, surveying the same, and posting notices thereon in connection with the application, he may, by himself, his agents or workmen, enter on the land without the consent of the owner or occupier, and there do whatever is reasonably necessary for such purpose: Provided, nevertheless, as follows:—

Except with the consent of the owner or occupier, nothing in this section contained shall be construed to authorise the entry on land which is not open for prospecting or mining without such consent

The provisions of the principal Act relating to business-site licenses are hereby modified as follows:—

The applicant for the license shall mark out the land before filing his application.

The license shall in every case be granted with reference to the site specified therein at the time of the grant.

The license shall during its currency entitle the licensee to the exclusive occupation of the surface of the site specified therein for the purpose of there carrying on any business.

Any person may lawfully carry on business in a mining district without being the holder of a business-site license.

In order to give formal effect to the last-preceding section hereof, the provisions of the principal Act relating to business sites, and the licenses therefor, are hereby specifically amended as follows:—

As to section five: By repealing the definition of “business.”

As to section thirteen: By repealing so much of subsection three thereof as relates to business-site licenses.

As to section one hundred and eighteen: By repealing subsection one thereof.

As to section one hundred and twenty: By repealing subsections one, two, three, and six thereof.

The following special provisions shall apply in every case where the amount of the compensation referred to in subsection five of section ninety-nine of the principal Act is to be determined by the Warden and two Assessors, as therein provided:—

If any party fails or neglects to appoint an Assessor within seven days after being requested by the Warden so to do, the Warden may appoint an Assessor in his stead.

If the Assessor appointed by any party or by the Warden dies or resigns, or refuses to act, or becomes incapable of acting, the party or Warden who appointed him may appoint an Assessor in his stead

The Warden shall fix and direct the procedure for determining the amount of the compensation, and shall also fix the reasonable costs of the proceedings (including Assessors’ fees), and direct how and by whom the same shall be paid.

The amount of the compensation-shall be determined by the Warden and Assessors, or by a majority of them, and such determination shall be final and conclusive:

Provided that if a majority cannot agree, then the Warden shall notify the parties to that effect, whereupon the Assessors shall be deemed to be discharged, and each party shall appoint a fresh Assessor.

The fresh Assessors, with the Warden, shall proceed to determine the amount of the compensation in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as in the case of the original Assessors.

The provisions of this section shall apply to claims for compensation pending or not finally disposed of at the time of the commencement of this Act.

Section one hundred and sixty-four of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that, for the purpose of facilitating mining operations under the principal Act, the following special provisions shall apply in the case of every mining privilege:—

Subject to regulations under the principal Act, the Warden, on application in that behalf, may, by certificate of easement in the prescribed form, grant to any person, being the holder of a mining privilege, the right to enter upon, occupy, and use any specified portion of the land comprised in any other mining privilege, for any of the following purposes:—

The application shall be made, notified, and disposed of in manner prescribed by section one hundred and thirty-six of the principal Act.

The application, if granted, may be granted on such terms and conditions as the Warden thinks fit, and shall in every case be deemed to be granted subject to the condition that the grantee in acting under the grant will not interfere with the reasonable and lawful use of such other mining privilege by the holder thereof, or with his lawful mining operations thereon, except in so far as is reasonably necessary in order to give effect to the grant.

All gold obtained from such specified portion of land by the grantee as the result of any operation authorised by the grant shall be the property of such holder, and shall be delivered to him by the grantee accordingly.

Before acting under the grant, the grantee shall pay compensation to such holder for all actual or prospective loss or damage that may be suffered by him by reason of the grant or the exercise by the grantee of the rights thereby conferred upon him.

If within one month after the issue of the certificate the amount of the compensation is not agreed on between the parties, the same shall be determined by the Warden and Assessors, in manner provided by section seven of this Act, the provisions whereof shall accordingly apply.

The certificate shall be registered against the mining privilege over which the rights thereby granted are exercisable.

In every case where the area of the land comprised in the mining privilege to be surrendered for purposes of exchange exceeds the limit of area as fixed by the principal Act, the area of the land comprised in the corresponding mining privilege may to the same extent exceed such limit.

In every case where, in the computation of the area of the land comprised in the mining privilege to be surrendered, the roads existing thereon have been excluded, the following special provisions shall apply:—

The area of the land in the corresponding mining privilege shall include the estimated area of the roads, notwithstanding that the total area thus computed may exceed the area specified in the surrendered mining privilege or the limit of area as fixed by the principal Act.

The license for the corresponding mining privilege shall specify the area of the land in the surrendered mining privilege, the estimated area of the roads, and the total area of the land in the corresponding mining privilege.

It shall not be necessary to make any survey for the purpose of estimating the area of the roads, but the Warden shall estimate the same in such manner as he thinks fit.

The license for the corresponding mining privilege shall be deemed to be granted and shall be held subject to the provisions of section nineteen hereof.

Section fifty-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by substituting the words “lawfully created therein by lease or license from such owners” in lieu of the words “lawfully created therein by such owners.”

The provisions of sections fifty-nine and sixty of the principal Act, relating to the surrender or determination of outstanding leases or licenses granted by the Native or other owners prior to the acquisition of the land by the Crown., are hereby extended to cases where the land (whether the same is or is not Crown land open for mining) is situate in a mining district, and is, in the opinion of the Governor, required for township purposes or any other purpose of public utility, as specified by the Governor: Provided that in every such case those sections shall be construed subject to the following special modifications, that is to say:—

The determination of the lease or license as to the whole or any part of the land comprised therein shall be effected by resuming the land for the purposes specified by the Governor.

Such resumption shall be deemed to be the taking of the land for a public work within the meaning of “The Public Works Act, 1894”; and the provisions of that Act shall accordingly, mutatis mutandis, apply, subject nevertheless to the provisions of this Act.

Such resumption may, if and in so far as the Governor thinks fit, be effected without affecting the rights of persons holding under subleases or sublicenses from the original lessees or licensees; and in such case those persons shall thereafter be deemed to hold from the Crown, subject to the conditions of their subleases or sublicenses.

In satisfaction in whole or in part of the compensation payable to the lessee or licensee in respect of the surrender or resumption, the Governor may grant to him for an estate in fee-simple such portion of the land as may be agreed on.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the compensation payable in respect of such resumption shall be assessed and settled in the manner and to the extent provided in Part VII of the principal Act, and shall be payable out of moneys appropriated by Parliament.

Subject to the rights of the persons (if any) holding from the Crown as aforesaid, the land as to which the lease or license is surrendered or determined shall be held and disposed of by sale, lease, reservation, or otherwise, in such manner, for such purposes, at such prices or rents, and on such terms and conditions in all things as the Governor from time to time prescribes.

All moneys received by or on behalf of the Crown in respect of such land or the disposal thereof shall be paid into the Public Account as part of the fund or account out of which the compensation has been appropriated and paid until the full amount thereof has been thereby recouped to that fund or account, and thereafter all such moneys (other than the proceeds of any sale in fee-simple) shall be deemed to be goldfields revenue, and the proceeds of every sale in fee-simple shall be paid into the Public Works Fund.

Subject to regulations under the principal Act, the Governor may from time to time define and specify, in any mining district, areas within which timber licenses and other timber-cutting rights may be granted under section two hundred and twenty-seven of “The Land Act, 1892,” exclusively, and other areas within which timber licenses and other timber-cutting rights may be granted by the Warden exclusively.

All fees and royalties received in respect of timber-cutting rights shall, in the case of rights granted under “The Land Act, 1892,” be deemed to be territorial revenue, and form part of the Consolidated Fund, and in the case of rights granted by the Warden be deemed to be goldfields revenue.

With respect to every agreement entered into after the commencement of this Act for the working of a claim on tribute the following provisions shall apply: —

The agreement shall be in writing, signed by or on behalf of the parties, and shall have no force or effect unless and until by memorandum thereon under his hand the Warden certifies that the terms and conditions are reasonable and proper in so far as concerns the interests of the tributers.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the agreement, no provision contained therein for the forfeiture or cancellation thereof or of the tributer’s rights thereunder, shall operate or be enforceable by the claim-holder or his successor in title without the consent in writing of the Warden.

Notice of the intended application for such consent shall be given to the tributers, or to at least one of them, by the applicant.

On the hearing of the application the Warden shall have regard to the equities of the case, and, after hearing the parties, may grant or refuse the application, or relieve from forfeiture or cancellation, on such terms as he thinks equitable, or make such other order in the premises as he thinks equitable; and every such order shall be binding on the parties.

Nothing in this section or in any such agreement shall operate to limit the rights of tributers under section one hundred and eighty-one of the principal Act.

In every case where a public or private bridge exists, or where land is reserved as a site for a public bridge, the following special provisions shall apply:—

It shall not be lawful for any person, being the holder of a mining privilege, howsoever or whensoever acquired, to carry on mining operations as such holder by sluicing, dredging, tunnelling, or driving within five chains of such public bridge or site, or three chains of such private bridge, except with the written consent, in the case of the public bridge or site, of the local or other authority having control thereof, and in the case of the private bridge, of the owner thereof, nor in any case except in accordance with the terms and conditions subject to which the consent is given:

Provided that in the case of a private bridge the Warden, on application in that behalf, may negative, modify, or vary as he thinks fit any term or condition which the owner has imposed otherwise than for the boná fide purpose of insuring the safety of the bridge.

The powers by this section conferred upon the local authority may be exercised either by resolution of the local authority or by writing under the hands of the Chairman or Mayor and any two other members thereof appointed either generally or specially in that behalf by resolution of the local authority.

In the case of bridges hereafter constructed or sites hereafter reserved, this section shall extend and apply as from the date on which the construction is commenced or the reservation is made.

For the purposes of this section,—

If the holder of the mining privilege, by himself, his agents or workmen, commits any breach of any of the provisions of this section, or of the terms or conditions subject to which the aforesaid consent is given, he shall be civilly liable for all damage thereby done, and in addition thereto his mining privilege shall be liable to forfeiture, and, if the breach is committed in respect of a public bridge or site, he shall also be liable as for committing an injury to a public work.

The provisions of the last-preceding section hereof, relating to public bridges and the sites therefor, shall, mutatis Mutandis, apply in the case of a railway as defined by section one hundred and sixty-five of “The Public Works Act, 1894.”

Section one hundred and sixty-five of the principal Act (relating to roads and streets) is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following provisions shall apply with respect to every public road and public street:—

The license for a mining privilege, being a claim, race, or tramway, or a prospecting or mineral area, may be applied for and granted notwithstanding that any public road or public street exists on the land comprised in the application.

It shall not be necessary to separately mark off the road or street for the purposes of the application.

The road or street shall be included in the area of the land comprised in the license.

The license, if granted, shall be deemed to be granted and shall be held subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section hereof.

It shall not be lawful for any person, being the holder of a mining privilege (howsoever or whensoever acquired), to exercise upon, over, or under any public road or public street any of his rights as such holder, or to carry on mining operations by dredging or sluicing within one chain of such road or street (whether situate within or outside the limits of the land comprised in his mining privilege), except with the written consent of the local or other authority having the control of such road or street, nor except in accordance with the terms and conditions subject to which such consent is given.

The powers by this section conferred upon the local authority may be exercised in manner provided in section eighteen hereof.

In the case of public roads or public streets hereafter constituted, this section shall extend and apply as from the date of constitution.

If such holder, by himself, his agents or workmen, commits any breach of any of the provisions of this section, or of the terms or conditions subject to which such consent is given, he shall be civilly liable for all damage done, and in addition thereto his mining privilege shall be liable to forfeiture, and if the breach is in respect of a Government road or street he shall also be liable as for committing an injury to a public work.

The address for service referred to in subsection seven of section two hundred and seventy-eight of the principal Act shall in every case be in the district in which the proceedings are instituted, and all notices to be served on the party may be served at such address.

Section two hundred and eighty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

By repealing the words “in the case of proceedings,” and substituting in lieu thereof the words “if the proceedings had been properly and duly.”

By providing that where the Appellate Court is the District Court the Judge thereof in his discretion, or on the application of either of the parties, and upon such terms as to costs and otherwise as the Judge thinks fit, may direct any issue of fact to be tried by Assessors in like manner as if the proceedings were in the Warden’s Court and were triable by Assessors, and the provisions of the principal Act relating to Assessors shall be construed accordingly.

With respect to watercourses which by Proclamation under the principal Act or any former Mining Act are constituted and set apart as watercourses for the discharge of tailings, debris, and waste waters produced by or resulting from mining operations, the following provisions shall apply

In the case of every watercourse heretofore or hereafter constituted and set apart as aforesaid, such mining operations shall be deemed to include and to have included those carried on in the watercourse as well as those carried on outside the same.

In the case of every watercourse hereafter constituted and set apart as aforesaid, it shall be deemed to be also constituted and set apart for the carrying-on of mining operations, and the Proclamation shall accordingly operate to confer upon the holder of any mining privilege which is situate wholly or in part in the watercourse or on its bank full and free right and liberty to carry on his mining operations as such holder, notwithstanding that they are carried on in the watercourse or on its bank.

For the purposes of the last-preceding subsection hereof, section one hundred and eight of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the words “and in which, or on the banks of which, mining operations may be lawfully carried on.”

In any case where a duly surveyed claim has been forfeited, abandoned, or absolutely surrendered, and any person desires to take up the whole of the land as a claim, the following special provisions shall apply, anything in section one hundred and thirty-seven of the principal Act to the contrary notwithstanding:—

No fresh survey shall be necessary unless the Warden so directs:

Provided that in lieu of or prior to directing such fresh survey the Warden may at the cost of the applicant require a surveyor to inspect the land and report to the Warden as to whether the boundaries marked out by the applicant are coterminous with those shown by the old plans.

Where in the computation of the area of the abandoned, forfeited, or surrendered claim, as shown by the survey plans thereof, the area of roads has been excluded, the provision of section ten hereof shall, mutatis mutandis, apply, notwithstanding that the area of the fresh claim may thereby exceed the prescribed limit.

For the purpose of complying with the labour conditions in the case of a dredging claim, it shall not be necessary to use more than one dredge, except where the Warden otherwise orders, having regard to the area of the claim and the facilities for working it:

Provided that no order shall be made under this section save on the report of an Inspector, and after the holder of the claim has had an opportunity of showing cause against the order.

Section one hundred and thirty-seven of the principal Act (relating to survey) shall not apply in the case of drainage-areas, except in so far as in special circumstances the Warden otherwise directs.

Subsection three of section two hundred and nine of the principal Act (relating to plans in the case of mines liable to be flooded) is hereby repealed, and the following subsection is substituted in lieu thereof:—

Section two hundred and ninety-seven of the principal Act (empowering local authorities to apply their funds in assisting the development of the mining industry) is hereby amended by repealing the words “within its district,”

The annual renewal of the registration of water-race licenses issued under any former Mining Act shall hereafter not be necessary.

In every case where, by virtue of any regulations heretofore made under the principal Act, any license is subject to the payment of an annual license-fee, or, in the case of a water-race license, to the annual renewal of the registration of the license, such annual license-fee shall henceforth not be payable, and such annual renewal shall henceforth not be necessary.

In every case where a watercourse is, in whole or in part, situate within or on the boundary of any mining privilege, howsoever or whensoever acquired, the holder of such mining privilege shall not as such holder—

Be entitled to prevent the holder of any other mining privilege, howsoever or whensoever acquired, from discharging into such watercourse any tailings, debris, or waste waters resulting from his mining operations in Connection with such other mining privilege; nor

Have any right of action against the holder of such other mining privilege by reason of such tailings, debris, or waste water being so discharged.

With respect to land which is comprised in any lease in perpetuity or other lease or license under “The Land Act, 1892” (not being a lease or license for depasturing purposes), and which is by section nineteen of the principal Act declared to be Crown land, the following special provisions shall apply in every case where a mining privilege exists on the land:—

The compensation which the lessee or licensee is entitled to receive from the holder of the mining privilege shall not be limited to the cases provided for by section one hundred and sixty-six of the principal Act, but shall extend to and include compensation for all damage suffered by the lessee or licensee in consequence of the exercise by the holder of the mining privilege of any of the rights conferred upon him as such holder.

Such compensation shall be assessed in the prescribed manner, and shall be paid to the lessee or licensee, or be secured to the satisfaction of the Warden, before the holder of the mining privilege proceeds to exercise the rights in respect whereof the claim for compensation arises.

The provisions of the last-preceding section hereof shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in every case where a mining privilege exists on Crown lands acquired under “The Land for Settlements Act, 1894,” whensoever the land was leased or otherwise disposed of.

In assessing the compensation payable by the holder of a mining privilege to any person, whether as to the holder of a mining privilege or as the owner or occupier of land, compensation already received shall be taken into account, so that the claimant shall in no case be entitled to compensation more than once in respect of the same matter.

The persons employed in a quartz-mine may, at their own cost, appoint two of their number to inspect the mine; and the persons so appointed shall be allowed once at least in every month to go to every part thereof, and to inspect the shafts, levels, stopes, and other working-places, also all airways, ventilating apparatus, old workings, and machinery; and the owner, agent, and manager (who may, if they think fit, accompany them), and all persons in the mine shall afford every facility for the purpose of such inspection; and the persons so appointed shall make a true report of such inspection, and such report shall be recorded in a book to be kept at the mine for the purpose, and shall be signed by the persons reporting.

All lands acquired under “The Land for Settlements Act, 1894,” are hereby declared to be Crown lands within the meaning of the principal Act Provided that all rents, royalties, and other fees payable in respect of mining privileges on such lands shall not be deemed to be goldfields revenue, but, shall be paid into the Land for Settlements Account.

The principal Act is hereby modified in so far as it is in conflict with this Acts, but not further or otherwise.