Mineral Leases Act 1862 (SA)

ANNO VICESIMO QUINTO ET VICESIMO SEXTO

V ICTORIB REGIN&.

A.D. 1862.

No. 24.

An Act to alter and amend the Laws relating to the Leasing of $he Waste Lands of the Crown within the Province of $o'utlr Australia for Mineral purposes.

[Assented to, 21st October, 1862.1

HEREAS it is desirable to amend the laws relating to Preamble.

the Province of South Australia, for Mineral purposes: Be it	W the Leasing of thc Waste Lands of the Crown within
therefore Enacted by the Governor-in-Chief of the Province of South Australia, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the said Province, in this present Parliament assembled, as follows:
1. Clause 13 of Act No. 5 of 2ist Victoria, is hereby repealed: clmse is, or NO. a a t Provided that the repeal of the said clause shall not thereby invalidate z$,".tOria*repealed*
any act heretofore lawfully done under the provisions of the said
clause,

2. It shall be lawful for the Governor to lease for the purposes miner all^^ may be

gpld, granted.

of mining for any metal or mineral, except to any person twenty acres, for any period not exceeding fourtcen years, at an annual rent of Ten Shillings per acre with a right of renewal for two further periods of fourteen years, on payment of a fine on each renewal, of not less than One Pound per acre nor more than Twenty Pounds* per acre of the land so leased.

applying for the mme, any portion of the Waste Lands of the

3. Any applicant for a lease under this Act ehall, after payment Apl'lioant for learrea to have one year's right

2K of of searoh,

of one year's rent, be entitled to a right of search fox one year for ores in and on the lands comprised in his claim, from and after the time at which the position and boundaries of the same shall be fixed: Provided that it shall not be lawful for such person to remove, or to permit to be removed from such lands, any ores prior to his being entitled to a lease and his declaration that he will accept the same.

~ o w l e u e ~ f o r f ~ i t e d ~ 4. Any such lease shall bc liable to forfeiture, and may be

declared void and forfeited accordingly by order of the Supreme Court, which order the said Court is hereby autho~ized and em- powered at any time to make on the expar t e application of the Attorney-General, if default be made by the lcsscc in any or all of the following conditioas to be inserted in every such lease, that is to say-If the rcnt be not paid yearly in advance to the Trcasurcr; and if a sum, equal to at least Six Pounds per acre, be not expended in every two years on thc land so leased for mining purposes, or, at the option of the lessee, if t h e e men be not employed for at least nine months in each year of the term of the demise in working on

the land derniseil by such lease, and in searching for or raising ores;

or if the lessee shall permit any portion of the land to be occupied for other than mining purposes, without the permission of the Com- missioner of Crown Lands and Immigration in writing.

Onurprobnndi to rest 5. In, any proceeding ~ n d e r the last preceding clause to obtain

on defendant. any swh order of forfeituw, the avcrnlent that the clcfcndant has made default in the specific condition mentioned ill the applic a t' ion shall be sufficient without proof of such fact, unless the defendant prove the contrary.

Power determina 6. Every lessee shall have power to determine the lease on giving

leaso.

three calendar months' notice in, writing, to the Commissioncr of

Crown Lands and Immigration.

On forfeiture, loam to 7. On the surrender or fmfeiture of any lease, a lease of the land highest bidder, of which sale: at least one calendar month's notice shall be given in the South Australian Governmmt Gazette, and in case such-leas2 is not sold, the land comprised therein may be treated as Waste Lands of t,he Crown.

be for 6r1e, therein comprised shall be offered for sale by public auction to the

Renewal of h e.	8. Any lessee desirous of obtaining a renewal of his lease, shall make application t6 the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immi- gration for renewal, at least twelve calendar rno~ths before the ex- piration of the current term of such lease; and, in default of such application: the right of the lessee to a renewal shall be forfeited.
When renewal first	9. The amount of fine hereinbefore made payable bn any renewal shall be fixed by the Governor with %.he advice and consent of the Executive Council at least three calendar months before the expiration of the term of the lease. 10. It
payable.

10. It shall be lawfulfor the Governor from time to time, with the

advice and consent of the Executive Council, by Proclamation to be published in the Houth Australinn Government Gnzette, to make, alter, and vary orders and regulations for making claims for leases, the Regulatianatobelaid	before Parliament.
forms of leases, and the sale of leases, and generally for giving effect to the provisions of this Act: Provided that a copy of all such orders and regulations shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fonrtcen days from the publication thereof, if the Parliament shall then be sitting, and if the Yarliament shall not then bc sitting then within fourteen days from its next sitting for
the dispatch of business, and such orders and regulations shall
thereupon have the force of law: Provided also that such orders
and regulations shall not affect any rights nccpircd under and by
virtue of any leases granted under any fomer regulations.

shall be the first Orders and Regulations for carrying this Act into Regulations. 11. Thc Orders ancl Regulations contained in the Schedule hereto What t o be Mineral

effect, subject, however, to be repealed, altered, or vzlricd by m y Orders and Regrdations to be rnade under the authority of this Act,

12. I t shall be lawful for the Gcvernor, on the application of M!nernI lands may,

any lessee, to rcsulne any portion of the lands comprised in any leSsee,b, resumcd for wlth the consent of

such lease for the purpose of laying out a township or other purpose township, &c. snlc mincrda may ks At

of public convenience, and at any sale that n ~ s y bc made of any ,,,er,,d,

of the lands so resumed, the right of working for minerals may be

reserved to the Crown or to thc lessee from whom t,hc land so sold

may haw been resurncd.

13.	This Act may be cited as the Mineral Leases Act of 1862.	short title.
In Her Majesty's name I assent to this Bill.

D. DALY, Governor.

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE REFERRED TO.

1. Applications for leases for a term of fourteen years of mineral lands, in

blocks not exceeding 320 acres each, are to be accompanied by such local descrip- tion and any other information as will serve to identify the locality; a statement in writing is also (if lequired) to be madc in cach case whether the applicant is the original discoverer of the mineral, or whether he is authoxized by the original dis- coverer to make the applicdtion for thc lcnse. A sum of $5, together with a fmther sum of 1s. per acre for elcry acre in excess of eighty acres, must be paid a t the time of lodging each application, which sums v411 be allowed out of the deposit

of 10s. pcr acre, to bc paid z t the time of lodgit~g the plan.

2. No applicant for mincral lands will be allowed to include in his application any improvement that may kave been effected on any such lands, unless such applicant, a t the time of making his application, states in writing that he is desilous of including such improvefnents; arid the full value of such improvements, as cstixnated by the Surveyor-General, rn?lst, if included in the application, be paid by the applicant into the Treasury w'thin one month after demand, or the claim will be forfe2ied; and no applicant will be allowed to take possession of any such improvements until payment for the came sliall h a w been made as aforesaid.

3. Within t h x c months from the date of application, the applicant, if he desires to proceed further with any such claim, must give notice at the Crown Lands Office of fiuch his intention, and then within a further period of three months the appli- cant must 'lodge a plan with the Surveyor-General, fixing the exact position of the land applied for, with reference to some known trigonometrical point (if such exists within fiEeen miles nf the claim), and describing the boundarks of the block. A deposit of 10s. per acre must also be paid at thv time of lodging t'tlis plan.

4. The applicant will be entitled. to one year's right of search, from the timc at

which che position of the block has to be fixed and the plan lodged.

5. The applicant will forfeit his claim to a leasc by removing, or causing to be removed, from the land, prior to his having acceptcd a, leasc, any ore, euccpting for samples, and thcn not exceeding one ton in the whole.

6. Should the lessee not intinlate his desire to obtain a rpnewed lease twelve months bcfore the date of the expiration of the term of his current lease, the land will then be dealt with by the Government as may be deemed best, in accordance with any lam or regulation affecting the waste lands of the Crown for the time being in force.

7. The Government shall hare the power of purchasing machinery, pumps, mining materials, ore8 at grass, if not removed by thc lcssccv within threc months from

the expiration of his lease, in case the lessec does not take out a renewed lease.

8. The lessee will be allotvcd three calendar months from the clpiration of his lease, to remove machinery, pumps, mining materials, and ores already at grass.

9. The vaice of all substantial and use fd improvements on the surf'ace of the ground mill be acidnd to thc upset price of the leaso cf the land when offered for salc, and such value shall be paid by the in-coming tenant within three calendar months, if the land is relet to any other than the original lessee; such valuation to be estimated,

at the date of termination of lease, bg two valuators, one named by the Government

and the other by the lessee; and finally, io case of dispute, by an umpire chosen by

the two valuators.

10. Should the lessee become the purchaaer of the lease of the land, the sum

added to the upset price, as the value of thc improvements, will be allowed in

abatement of the purchase money.

11. Should any other person than the lessee become thc purchaser (or tcnant, if

the land is relet), the value of the irnprovemcnts mill bc paid to the lessec by the

Government.

12, In the event of the land not being sold or relct, the lessee 411 not receive the

value of the improvements.

[Clausea 9, 10, 11, and l 2 of these Regulations shall be applicable only at

the expiration of the first fourteen years' lease.]

13. Whenever

13. Whenever there shall exist on the waste lands applied for and leased by virtue of these regulations, any natural spring of water, or any water obtained by artificial means by the holder of the pastoral lease of such land, a right of access to such water shall be reserved in the lease to the owner of the run on which !such mineral block shall be surveyed; and reserves for roads or other purposes of public utility may be made by the Govcrnmcnt in any lease.

14. Leases of lands applied for, but not fixed and surveyed, as providcd by clause

3 of these regulations, and the leases of land surrendered or forfeited, may be put

up to auction by the Government.

15. All mineral lands which have been applied for, but the site of which has not been fixed, may be put up to auction by the Government as mineral lands, and sold to the highest bidder.	'
16. All mineral lands put up to auction and passed, may at any time be put up to auction again, at the rcquest of any person guaranteeing the upset price.
17. I t shall be compctcnt for the Government, in the event of the land remaining unsold or unlet, to abate the value of improvements, at the expiration of every three calendar months after the lease has expired, by one-fourth of their original amount; and to offer the lund again a t public auction, quarterly,at the reduced price; and, upon sale thercof, to pay the lessee the reduced amount of valuation.
18. I n case of simultaneous applications being made for the same land, thc persona applying sliall decide the matter by lot, to be drawn in thc presence of the Surveyor- General, or other person authorized by the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration. Should such applications be made for more than one block, the lot to

be drawn for priority of choice-the applicants then choosing alternately.

19. All mineral claims must (except where the boundaries of former claims, peculiarity of situation, or other special circumstances may prevent) be in the shape of a rectangular parallelogram, of which the length on the longest side shall not exceed twice the length of the shortest side.

20. When any claim or lease shall bccome forfcited from any cause whatever, e

notice of such forfeiture shall be published in the South AustraZian Government

Gazette, and no frrsli application for any such claim or lease shall be allowed

until after the expiration of seven clear days from date of the publication of such

notice.

21. Should the rent not have been paid and the plan deposiicd before the expiration of the week mentioned in the last preceding regulation, the lands comprised in such claim may be treated as waste lands of the Crown, and applied for by any person under the regulations for the time being in force relative to mineral land.

22. When any land shall have been applied for as mineral land, and the claim

become forfeited, or hzve lapsed, or been withdrawn, the sum to be paid by any fresh

applicant shall be double the amount paid in the case of a first application.

23. The Commissioner of Crown Lands may, if he thinks fit, direct that the right of making application for any mincral land be offered for sale at public auction a t the upset price of $5, and such further sum as providcd by clause 1 of these regulations, which sum will be allowed out or" the sum to be paid at the time or' lodging thc plan; but any amount offered or bid by any person above the said upset

thereof: Provided that notice of such sale be given in the Government Ganetk price shall be considered as a premium, and no allowance will be made in respect a t least twenty-eight days prior to the sale.

If a lessee of waste lands for mineral purposes, or any person or company, shall permit any portion of the said lands to be occupied for other than &oncl, Jide mincral purposes, the claim or lease will thereby be liable to be declared forfeited to the Government.

24,

25. The above regulations shall not control or qualify the Act, but where incon- sistent therewith shall be controlled and qualified thereby.

P-

Adelaide : Printed by authority by W. C. Cox, Governm~nt Printer, Victoria-square.

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