MINING LEASES. 103 



REVISED RULES FOR THE GRANT OF PROSPECTING 



LICENSES AND MINING LEASES FOR MICA IN 



BENGAL. 



[Approved in Bengal Government Notification No. 142 T. R., dated the 

 23rd April 1902.] 



In these rules, Collector means the Revenue Officer in charge 



of the district. 



Prospecting Licenses. 



1. (i) A license to prospect formica, called hereinafter a prospect- 

 ing license, shall confer on the licensee the sole right, subject to the 

 conditions contained in the license, to mine, quarry, bore, dig and 

 search for, win, work, and carry away mica lying or being within, 

 under, or throughout the land specified in the license. 



(2) A prospecting license shall only be granted with respect to 

 land in which the mica mines, or mica, is the property of the Govern- 

 ment, and shall apply only to the area described in the license. 



Note. — A prospecting license should be restricted to such area as is reasonably 

 required for bond fide prospecting purposes. The Collector's powers in this 

 respect are made subject to the control of the Local Government, and it is accord- 

 ingly directed that in cases in which a prospecting license is applied for over an 

 area exceeding half a square mile, a previous reference to the Local Government 

 should be made by the Collector. 



2. No prospecting license shall be granted except to a person 

 approved by the Government, and such person shall, before the license 

 is granted, deposit as security in respect of each license such sum not 

 being less than Rioo, as the Collector may determine, or give 

 security to the like amount to the satisfaction of the Collector. Sub- 

 ject to such deduction on account of compensation for surface damage 

 or otherwise as the Collector may order, the amount of any deposit 

 made under this rule, should the depositor after\vards become the 

 lessee of any mica-mining lease, will be carried to his credit as part of 

 the rents payable under his lease, and should he decline or fail to 

 obtain any such lease as aforesaid, will^be returned to him. 



3. (1) Every application for a prospecting license for mica shall, 

 unless the Local Government shall in any case otherwise direct, be 

 made to the Collector of the district in which the land or some part of 

 the land with respect to which the license is required, is situate. 



( 93 ) 



