This Act may be cited as the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1920, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Coalmines Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

On the expiry of any lease granted under section fourteen of the principal Act or the corresponding provisions of any former Act for a term of less than sixty-six years (whether such lease has been granted before or after the passing of this Act) the Warden or Commissioner may, with the approval of the Minister, and on such terms and conditions, subject to the provisions of the principal Act, as he thinks fit, grant to the lessee a new lease over the lands comprised in the original lease, but so that the term of the original lease and of all subsequent leases under this section shall not exceed sixty-six years in the aggregate.

In addition to the powers conferred on him by section twenty-two of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914, the Governor-General may make regulations under that section with respect to the provision, maintenance, and use of sufficient sanitary conveniences, both above and below ground, available for the use of persons employed in or about the mine.

Section six of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1910, and paragraph (f) of subsection four of section twelve of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914, are hereby repealed.

Section twenty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the words “after a period of three months,” and substituting the words “on such date or dates as may be fixed in that behalf by the Chairman of the Board of Examiners.”

Section twenty-eight of the principal Act (as set out in section five of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914) is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “the Board is of opinion,” the words “that the applicant is of good character and repute, and.”

Section fourteen of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection three thereof.

Paragraph (1) of section forty of the principal Act (as set out in section eight of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914) is hereby amended by omitting the word “constantly”; and by inserting immediately before the proviso the words “Such ventilation shall be produced continuously during all times when there are any persons in the mine, and also during such other times as may be prescribed.”

Paragraph (1D) of section forty of the principal Act (as set out in section eight of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914) is hereby amended by omitting the words “entrance to,” and substituting the words “beginning of the return airway from.”

Paragraph (1E) of section forty of the principal Act (as set out in section eight of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914), and Rule 3 in the Second Schedule to the principal Act, shall be read subject to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the said section forty as amended by this section.

The Second Schedule to the principal Act (as amended by section eleven of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914) is hereby further amended by omitting from Rule 4 the words “or by blasting”; and by adding the following proviso: “Provided that in mines where permitted explosives are not required to be used timber may be withdrawn by blasting.”

Section six of the Coal-mines Amendment Act, 1914, is hereby amended as follows:—

All moneys that may from time to time be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose of assisting the development of the coal-mining industry, whether by way of grants, subsidies, or otherwise (other than moneys appropriated for the purposes of Part X of the Mining Act, 1908, in its application to the coal-mining industry, as provided by section sixteen of the Mining Amendment Act, 1919), shall be apportioned and applied as the Minister thinks fit, subject nevertheless to the special terms (if any) of the appropriation.

Any Warden appointed under the Mining Act, 1908, in any mining district and the Commissioner of Crown Lands outside a mining district may, with the consent of the Minister and subject to the provisions of the principal Act, grant licenses for tramways, for any term not exceeding sixty years, for the purpose of conveying coal from any coal-mine or from Crown lands held under a coal-mining lease or license granted under the principal Act.

Such licenses shall, with the necessary modifications, be in the form and subject to the conditions (including conditions as to renewal) prescribed with respect to tramways for mining purposes under the Mining Act, 1908, and subject to such further conditions as the Minister may impose.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Westland and Nelson Coal Fields Administration Act, 1877, the power hereinbefore granted to Wardens to grant licenses for tramways shall be exercisable over the Westland-Grey Coal Reserve, the Nelson-Grey Coal Reserve, and the Buller Coal Field Reserve constituted by that Act as if such lands were ordinary Crown lands within a mining district:

Provided that a license for a tramway on any such reserve shall not be granted unless a copy of the application has been lodged with the Harbour Board or other authority having any interest in the land over which it is proposed to construct such tramway.

All licenses for tramways for coal-mining purposes which have heretofore been granted by a Warden in any mining district are hereby declared to have been as validly granted as if this section were in force when those licenses were granted, and as if they purported to be granted under the authority of this section.