r26 6eo0rapbical Betes on 



-tax of $10 per pertenencia, a " pertenencia " being OUT unit of a mining 

 property and consisting of a hectare or a square 100 metres on each 

 side, equivalent to 2.47 acres. The rights of the owner of the land 

 are not interfered with, and in case anybody discovers a mine upon 

 another man's property, the landlord continues to own the surface, and 

 all the discoverer is entitled to is the mineral underground and so 

 much of the surface as is necessary to work it, for buildings and 

 other mining requirements, and for that the owner of the ground is 

 compensated by agreement, or, if no amicable agreement can be 

 reached, by arbitration. 



Mining litigation is quite rare in Mexico, and it does not take long 

 to get a final decision, as mining cases are tried before a single judge, 

 and appeals lie to the Supreme Courts of the different states, and to 

 the Federal Supreme Court in Mexico. To the honor of the courts in 

 Mexico be it said, as may also be said of the judiciary in the States and 

 the United States Federal Courts, they are above reproach. 



A concise statement of the provisions of the present mining laws 

 of Mexico will not be out of place here. 



The law grants to all inhabitants of the country the right to acquire 

 and work mines. He has to denounce a new mine. A denouncement 

 means making a location. When the location of a claim has been 

 determined upon, all possible data are obtained concerning it before the 

 denouncement is made. It may be a rich old mine, and yet if the law 

 has not been complied with it is subject to relocation. The law grants 

 to any inhabitant of the Republic the right to explore for mineral. 

 All districts have their mining agents and all the prospector has to do 

 is to have the regular form of petition used in making out a denounce- 

 ment, as it is called, made out and submitted to the mining agent of 

 .the district. If there does not happen to be a mining agent in the 

 district, the petition is presented to the local postmaster. The expense 

 of registering the petition is $i. After registering the petition, the 

 mining agent has thirty days in which to appoint an expert to examine 

 the property, who has eight days in which to reply to the summons, 

 and if he accepts the service, the mining agent issues in duplicate a 

 document stating that the claim has been denounced and directing 

 objecting parties to make known their prior claims within a period of 

 four months from the date of the denouncement, or forfeit any right to 

 the property. 



The charge of the expert for making a report upon the claim, to- 

 gether with the plans, is about $15 per claim and travelling expenses. 

 The expert has sixty days in which to send in his plans and report. 

 The notification that the property has been denounced is published in 

 the official journal of the district, the cost of which varies in the 

 .different states, from $2 to $4 being the usual fee. 



