MINING LEASES. 107 



>o. Every application for a mica-mining lease shall bear a court-fee 

 stamp of the value of eight annas and contain — 



(a) the name, residence, and profession of the applicant, and 



(b) a map of the area over which the proposed lease is to extend. 



11. On receipt of any such application the Local Government" 

 may, if the applicant is entitled to a lease under rule 8, or if it con- 

 siders that the applicant should be granted a mining lease, grant the 

 same in accordance with these rules over such one or more blocks, 

 each not exceeding half a square mile in area, as the Local Govern- 

 ment may think fit : 



Provided that no mica-mining lease shall be granted by a Local 

 Government under these rules so as to cause the total area held under 

 mining leases by the lessee, or by those joint in interest with him, 

 to exceed ten square miles. 



No such lease shall be executed until it has been approved by the 

 Legal Remembrancer or other legal adviser, if any, appointed for the 

 Province. 



Note. — The Local Government is empowered to grant to an applicant more 

 than one block o f land, if it considers thi s expedient. But the right of a prospector 

 in respect of a mining lease is limited to one block. The granting of more than 

 one block to him is entirely in the discretion of the Local Government. The 

 number of blocks which may properly be granted under any one lease is a 

 matter of importance and will vary with the resources at the command of the 

 applicant, the area of mineralised land in the locality at the disposal of the 

 Government, and the possibility of other capitalists being likely to engage in the 

 same industry. 



12. Without the previous sanction of the Governor -General in 

 Council, the extent of each lot or block of land covered by a mica- 

 mining lease shall not exceed half a square mile, and where the land 

 follows the direction of a band or belt of mica, the length of the lot 

 shall not exceed four miles. 



13. The term for which a mica-mining lease shall be granted 

 must not exceed thirty years, and no covenant for renewal shall be 

 inserted in the lease without the previous sanction of the Governor- 

 General in Council. 



Note. — The Government of India would not be prepared to sanction a re- 

 newal clause in leases for purely speculative undertakings. On the other hand, 

 they would be disposed to view with favour a proposal for a covenant for renewal 

 where the existence of the mineral is ascertained beyond doubt where the enter- 

 prise is a substantial one, and where a large expenditure of capital is essential to 

 the prosecution of the undertaking. 



14. Every such lease shall contain such conditions and stipulations 

 as the Government of Bengal may in each case consider necessary, 

 but shall in every case contain the following conditions :— » 



(i) The lessee shall, during the currency of his lease, pay either a 

 royalty of 5 per cent, ad valoretn on all mica removed or 



H ( 97 ) 



