The Short Title of this Act is “The Mining Act Amendment Act, 1892.” It shall be read together with “The Mining Act, 1891,” herein referred to as “the principal Act.”

Subject to the provisions of section three of “The Coal-mines Act, 1891,” the lands respectively described in the First, Second, and Third Schedules of “The Westland and Nelson Coalfields Administration Act, 1877,” are hereby declared to be subject to the provisions of “The Mining Act, 1891,” as being Crown lands within mining districts.

All powers, authorities, and functions conferred upon the Minister of Lands, or a Land Board, or Commissioner of Crown Lands, by or in virtue of section eight of “The Westland and Nelson Coalfields Administration Act, 1877,” to dispose of the aforesaid lands, are hereby transferred to and shall be exercised by the Warden and Minister of Mines respectively, under the provisions of “The Mining Act, 1891,” subject, however, as herein first mentioned.

Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to amend or affect “The Westland and Nelson Coalfields Administration Act, 1877,” or any Act amending the same, otherwise than as is herein expressly provided, or to affect any lease or license heretofore granted.

Provided that all applications for mining rights shall be referred to the Harbour Boards of Greymouth and Westport respectively having an interest in the land proposed to be dealt with, and that any revenues derived from the letting or other disposal of such lands shall continue to be paid to the Westport and Greymouth Boards respectively.

The principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Special claims and licensed holdings.

Mineral leases and licenses.

Section sixteen is hereby amended by the insertion of the word “boroughs” after the word “counties” in line four.

In respect of miners’ rights, section twenty-five is hereby amended by the insertion, after the words “mine on Crown lands,” of the words “or on any land set apart for mining purposes.”

In respect of business licenses, section twenty-eight is hereby amended by the addition of the following words at the end of the section: “If any person desires to have a business license for more than a year, and if there be no objection, the Warden may grant a business license for any period not exceeding twenty years, with the right of renewal upon terms to be agreed on, which said license shall be granted upon such terms and conditions as the Warden shall prescribe in each case, and the said license shall confer on the licensee the exclusive right to the possession of the surface of land held under such business license; but such license shall not entitle the holder thereof to prevent any person from working the ground underneath the surface thereof: Provided such workings shall not damage any building that may be erected on the site held by virtue of such license. The rent in respect of such license shall be three pounds per annum payable yearly in advance as from the date of issue. Every such license shall be in the form set forth in respect of a business license in the Second Schedule to the principal Act, or as near thereto as the circumstances will permit.”

That section fifty-one of the principal Act be amended by striking out, after the words “aforesaid shall,” the words “within seven days after ceasing to work in the claim if he becomes the holder of a miner’s right.”

That all the words of section sixty-four of the principal Act after the word “same,” in line six, to the word “be” (inclusive of “be”) be struck out, and the following words be inserted in lieu thereof: “Provided a sum not less than five hundred pounds has been expended upon each claim, special claim, or holding; but such amalgamated area shall not exceed sixty acres.”

Section one hundred and fifty-three, subsection six, of the principal Act is hereby amended by the omission of the word “Secretary,” and the substitution of the word “Treasurer” in lieu thereof.

The Warden or Magistrate to whom any petition shall be referred under section two hundred and fourteen of the principal Act for report, may inquire into the matter of such petition, and report his opinion thereon and the amount of costs (if any) which the applicant ought to pay.

The costs of the inquiry, including all costs of occupier or owner in fee, shall be paid out of the sum deposited by the applicant, and the balance (if any) shall be returned to the applicant.

If the Warden or Magistrate shall decide that the costs of inquiry should not be paid by the applicant, then all such costs as above mentioned shall be paid by the Colonial Treasurer out of the goldfields revenue of the district wherein the land is situate; but if the land be resumed by the Crown under section two hundred and thirteen of the principal Act, such compensation and costs (if any) may be paid out of any moneys to be appropriated for the purpose by the General Assembly.

Section three hundred of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following proviso thereto: Provided that, in the event of their being no Warden’s Court at the place where it is desired to have the evidence taken, it shall be lawful for such evidence to be taken in the Resident Magistrate’s Court.

In respect of managers, section three hundred and twelve of the principal Act is hereby amended by the omission of the words, “no mining manager or legal manager of any mine,” and the insertion of the following words in lieu thereof, “no manager, mining manager, or secretary of any incorporated company carrying on mining operations.”

In respect of agricultural leases, section three hundred and forty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the words “one hundred acres” for “fifty acres” in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) thereof.

The holder of any license or certificate for a water-race from any stream, spring, lake, or pool within a mining district, whether granted at any time heretofore or hereafter, shall not be deemed to have any right or title to any claim for damage by reason of the pollution of the water in such stream, spring, lake, or pool by mining operations, or by the deposit of tailings or mining débris from any registered tail-race in such stream, spring, lake, or pool:

Provided that earth, stones, tailings, or other débris may be discharged into any such stream, spring, lake, or pool, but so as not to stop the flow of the water therein or therefrom, and not so as to directly injure any water-race, other than by such pollution of water as aforesaid. Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the Coromandel, Thames, Ohinemuri, and Te Aroha Goldfields:

Provided also that it shall not be lawful to pollute the water in any stream, spring, lake, or pool from which water to any water-race already constructed is led or taken, if such race be held, occupied, or owned by a local authority for the supply of water to the inhabitants of any city, town, or township; but this proviso shall not apply to any stream, spring, lake, or pool which has heretofore been proclaimed or declared a watercourse into which tailings, mining debris, and waste water may be discharged, nor shall it prevent the granting of a certificate for any tail-race that discharges into any such stream, lake, pool, or spring below the level from which the supply to any such water-race as aforesaid is taken:

Provided also that the Warden may, in his discretion, refuse to grant a certificate for any tail-race which discharges into any stream, spring, lake, or pool when, in his opinion, the granting thereof would be against the public interest, and that whether the application for such certificate be opposed or not.

Provided also that the Minister may, on the recommendation of any Warden, by Proclamation withdraw any river, creek, lake, pool, or watercourse from the operation of this Act.

It shall not be, nor be deemed to have been, necessary that any contract or agreement to work as a contractor or tributer in any claim, special claim, or licensed holding should be made or have been made by deed; and any agreement between the parties to any such contract or agreement as aforesaid shall be and shall be deemed to have been sufficient for all purposes of the principal Act if made in writing and signed by the parties thereto. Any such contract or agreement as aforesaid heretofore made shall be receivable in evidence notwithstanding the insufficiency of stamp duty paid in respect thereof.

On the investigation of title or partition of any block of Native land the Native Land Court may, on the application of the Governor, with the consent of a majority of the Native owners, by order declare the whole or any portion of such land to be ceded to Her Majesty for mining purposes, for such term and on such conditions as may be agreed upon between the Governor and a majority of the Native owners.

On the like application, due notice of which shall have previously been given in the Kahiti and Court notices, the Court may by order, with the consent of a majority of Native owners, declare any block of Native land, or any portion thereof, the title to which has heretofore been investigated or partitioned, to be ceded to Her Majesty for mining purposes in manner aforesaid.

On any such order being made, the land described therein shall thereafter be held by Her Majesty for the term and purposes and subject to the conditions respectively in such order mentioned.

The rights acquired by the Governor on behalf of Her Majesty under the deed of cession of the Ohinemnri Goldfields Block, dated the eighteenth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, as published in the Auckland Provincial Government Gazette of the eighth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, shall not abate or be prejudicially affected by reason of the extinguishment of the Native title, or the issue of a Crown grant or other instrument of title, for any portion or portions of the land comprised therein, and the said deed of cession shall from the date thereof be deemed to have been and to be valid and binding on all persons whatsoever according to the true intent and meaning of the same.

Section three hundred and fifty-two of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and it is hereby enacted that—

The Governor in Council may, under regulations to be made in that behalf, notwithstanding anything contained in any Act relating to mining, from time to time grant to any occupant of land under business license or miner’s right in the Townships of Ross, Dillmanstown, Kanieri, and Bluespur, in the County of Westland, who has improved such land to the satisfaction of the Warden of the district, a lease, for any term not exceeding twenty-one years, of the surface of such land, at such rates of payment for rent and under such restrictions as to the use thereof as he may think necessary, and such lease shall entitle the holder thereof to all the rights and privileges now enjoyed by holders of business licenses issued under any Act relating to mining.

If at any time during the currency or at the termination of any lease heretofore granted or hereafter to be granted the land leased is proved, to the satisfaction of the Governor in Council, to be not auriferous, the land may be sold by public auction, subject to valuation for improvements, as provided for in sections forty-three and forty-seven of “The Mines Act, 1877.” At the end of the lease unless the land is proved to be auriferous, the lessee shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease for a further period of twenty-one years, on such terms and under such restrictions as the Governor in Council may prescribe.

The rent of all leases hereafter to be granted under the provisions of this section shall be goldfields revenue, and payable to the Receiver of Goldfields Revenue of the district in which such land is situated, and all rents and arrears of rent may be sued for and recovered by the said Receiver in manner provided by section eighteen of this Act.

Any special claim, licensed holding, or claim, either granted by the Governor or the Warden, below high-water mark, for the purpose of carrying on mining operations, shall be deemed to be within the boundaries of the adjacent mining district within the meaning of this Act; and any holder of such special claim, licensed holding, or claim shall pay all rents, royalties, rates, and taxes in the same manner as though the land so held were above high-water mark and within a district as defined by “The Gold Duty Abolition and Mining Property Rating Act, 1890.”

Section thirty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the words “Second Schedule” for “Fourth Schedule.”

Section one hundred and ninety-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by the omission of the words “shall cease to be Crown lands and”.

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by the addition of the words at the end thereof, “unless where otherwise specially provided.”

Section seventy-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended in the last paragraph thereof by the omission of the words “for a further period,” and the substitution in lieu thereof of the words “for a longer period than heretofore provided.”

The Third Schedule of the principal Act is hereby amended by the omission of the word “yearly,” and the insertion of the word “half-yearly” in lieu thereof.

The Sixth Schedule of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to the “Form XVIII., Allowances to Witnesses,” the words “miners not exceeding per diem ten shillings.”