UNITED STATES MINING LAWS. Treasurer, or designated depository in favor of the United 100. The surveyors-general will endeavor to appoint min- 101. The usual oaths will be required of these deputies and their assistants as to the correctness of each survey executed by them. The duty of the deputy mineral surveyor ceases when he has executed the survey and returned the field notes and preliminary plat thereof with his report to the surveyor-general. He will not be allowed to prepare for the mining claimant the papers in support of an application for patent, or otherwise perform the duties of an attorney before the land office in connection with a mining claim. The surveyors-general and local land officers are expected to report any infringement of this regulation to this office. 102. The law requires that each applicant shall file with the register and receiver a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by him for publication of notice and for survey, together with all fees and money paid the register and receiver, which sworn statement is required to be transmitted to this office for the information of the commissioner. 103. Should it appear that excessive or exorbitant charges have been made by any surveyor or any publisher, prompt action will be taken with the view of correcting the abuse. 104. The fees payable to the register and receiver for filing and acting upon applications for mineral-land patents are five dollars to each officer, to be paid by the applicant for patent at the time of filing, and the like sum of five dollars is payable to each officer by an adverse claimant at the time of filing his adverse claim. (Sec. 2238, R. S., paragraph 9.) 105. All fees or charges under this law may be paid in United States currency. 106. The register and receiver will, at the close of each month, forward to this office an abstract of mining applications filed, and a register of receipts, accompanied with an abstract of mineral lands sold, and an abstract of adverse claims filed. 107. The fees and purchase money received by registers and receivers must be placed to the credit of the United States in the receiver's monthly and quarterly account, charging up in the disbursing account the sums to which the register and receiver may be respectively entitled as fees and commissions, with liabilities in regard to the legal maximum. XIII. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE CHARACTER 108. The "Rules of Practice in cases before the United States District Land Offices, the General Land Office, and the Department of the Interior," approved August 13, 1885, will, as far as applicable, govern in all cases and proceedings arising in contests, and hearings to determine the mineral or non-mineral character of lands. 109. No public land shall be withheld from entry as agricultural land on account of its mineral character, except such as is returned to the surveyor-general as mineral; and the presumption arising from such a return may be overcome by testimony taken in the manner hereinafter described. 110. Hearings to determine the character of lands are practically of two kinds, as follows: 1. When lands are returned as mineral by the surveyorgeneral. When such lands are sought to be entered as agricultural under laws which require the submission of final proof after due notice by publication and posting, the filing of the proper non-mineral affidavit in the absence of allegations that the land is mineral will be deemed sufficient as showing as to character of land must be made when final preliminary requirement. proof is submitted. A satisfactory a In case of application to enter, locate, or select such lands as agricultural, under laws in which the submission of final proof after due publication and posting is not required, notice thereof must first be given by publication for thirty days and posting in the local office during the same period, and affirmative proof as to the character of the land submitted. In the absence of allegations that the land is mineral, and upon compliance with this requirement, the entry, location, or selection will be allowed, if otherwise regular. 2. When lands which are sought to be entered as agricultural are alleged by affidavit to be mineral or when sought as mineral their non-mineral character is alleged. The proceedings in this class of cases are in the nature of a contest between two or more known parties and are provided for in the rules of practice. 111. At the hearings under either of the aforesaid classes the claimants and witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard to the character of the land; same has been thoroughly prospected; there exists within the tract or tracts claimed any lode whether the or vein of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, whether or not silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or other valuable deposit which has ever been claimed, located, recorded, or worked; whether such work is entirely abandoned, or whether occasionally resumed; if such lode does exist, by whom claimed, under what designation, and in which subdivision of the land it lies; whether any placer mine or mines exist upon the land; if so, what is the character thereof-whether of the shallow-surface description, or of the deep cement, blue lead or gravel deposits; to what extent mining is carried be obtained, and what the facilities are for obtaining water for mining purposes; on when water can acre subdivisions mining has been done, and at what time the land was abandoned for mining purposes, if abandoned upon what particular tenat all. 112. The testimony should also show the agricultural capacities of the land, what kind of crops are raised thereon, and the value thereof; actually cultivated for crops of cereals or vegetables, and within which particular ten-acre subdivision such crops the number of acres are raised; also which of these subdivisions embrace the improvements, giving in detail the extent and value of the improvements, such as house, barn, vineyard, orchard, fencing, etc., and mining improvements. 113. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible; and in addition to the leading points indicated above, where an attempt is made to prove the mineral character of lands which have been entered under the agricultural laws, it should show at what date, if at all, valuable deposits of mineral were first known to exist on the lands. 114. When the case comes before this office, such decision will be made as the law and the facts may justify; and in cases where a survey is necessary to set apart the mineral from the agricultural land, the necessary instructions will be given to enable the proper party at his own expense, to have the work done, at his option. either by United States deputy, county, or other local surveyor; the survey in such case, where the claims to be segregated are vein or lode claims, must be executed in such manner as will conform to the requirements in section 2320, U. S. Revised Statutes, as to length and width and parallel end lines. 115. Such survey when executed must be properly sworn to by the surveyor, either before a notary public, officer of a court of record, or before the register or receiver. the deponent's character and credibility to be properly certified to by the officer administering the oath. 116. Upon the filing of the plat and field notes of such survey, duly sworn to as aforesaid, you will transmit the same to the surveyor-general for his verification and approval; who, if he finds the work correctly performed, will properly mark out the same upon the original township plat in his office, and furnish authenticated copies of such plat and description both to the proper local land office and to this office, to be affixed to the duplicate and triplicate township plats respectively. 117. With the copy of plat and description furnished the 118. The fact that a certain tract of land is decided 119. Blank forms for proofs in mineral cases are not -OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO AND REGULATIONS THEREUNDER. Article 1. Mining property in Mexico shall be governed by the following rules, which will be carried out by the central government in accordance with its constitutional authority. Art. 2. Subject to this law are those mineral substances which cannot be exploited without a previous concession, and those for whose extraction works are required which may endanger the lives of the operatives, the security of the works, and the stability of the soil. Art. 3. Those mineral substances for whose exploitation a corresponding concession is indispensable in every case are the following, whatever the nature, form or situation of their respective deposits: (a) Gold, platinum, silver, mercury, iron, except marsh ores, loose float ores and ochres, which are exploited as coloring materials; lead; copper: tin, except float tin; zinc, antimony, nickel, cobalt, manganese, bismuth and arsenic, whether found in their native state or as minerals. (b) Precious stones, rock salt and sulphur. Art. 4. The owner of the soil may exploit freely, without a special concession, the following mineral substances: The combustible minerals, oils and mineral waters; the rocks of the ground which serve either as rough or finished material for construction or ornamentation; the materials of the soil, as earths, sands and clays of all classes; the mineral substances exempted from concession in Article 3 of this law; and, in general, all those not specified in that article. The works of excavation, superficial or subterraneous, which the exploitation of these substances may require, shall always be subject to the regulations which are issued for the government and safety of the mines. Art. 5. Legally acquired mining property and that which may be acquired in the future under this law shall be irrevocable and perpetual during the payment of the federal property tax, in accordance with the prescriptions of the law which establishes said tax. Art. 6. The original title of the newly acquired mining property will be that which the Department of Public Works (secretario de fomento) decrees in conformity with the prescriptions of this law. Art. 7. Mining property, excepting placers and superficial deposits, is understood to refer only to the part underground and not to the surface, which latter shall continue under the dominion of its prime proprietor, except that part of the same which the miner occupies in the cases and under the conditions which are set forth in Article 11 of this title. Art. 8. The exploitation of the products of mines shall be completely limited by the respective boundaries and can only be permitted outside of said limits, in accordance with the provisions of the regulation, when the land is not occupied and by petitioning previously for the respective enlargement of the concession. In order to enter upon adjoining property the consent of its owner is absolutely required, except in cases of legal right of Art. 10. The necessary works for the development and profit of mines and placers are a benefit to the public: therefore, in default of agreement, forcible appropriation of the lands necessary to their operation may be made by legal procedure. Art. 11. The owners of mining concessions can concert freely with the owners of the surface land for the occupation of the space they need, either for the working of placers or superficial deposits, or to establish buildings and other dependencies of the mines; and when they cannot agree, either upon extent or price thereof, legal proceedings for its appropriation shall be taken through the local judge of the first instance, observing the following proceedings during the correction of Article 27 of the constitution: i. Each party shall name an expert appraiser and both experts shall present to the judge their valuations within eight days, counting from the day of their appointment. If the appraisers fail to agree, the judge shall name a third expert as umpire, who shall give his decision within the peremptory period of eight days, counting from the day of his appointment. The judge, taking into account the opinions of the experts and the proofs which the parties present him with while the experts are reaching their decision, shall fix the surface area which must be occupied and the amount of the indemnity, within the next eight days. The decision of the judge shall be final, without more recourse than that of responsibility. ii. If the land owner should not give the name of his appraiser within the period of eight days after being notified by the judge, this functionary shall officially name an appraiser to represent the interests of said owner. iii. If the possession or ownership of the property which is sought to be occupied should be uncertain or doubtful, the judge shall fix as the sum of the indemnity the amount which results in view of the valuation of the expert named by the owner of the mining concession, and that of the expert named by the judge himself to represent the legitimate owner, said amount being deposited with the court, to be delivered to whom it may belong. iv. The experts, in making their valuation, shall use as bases the value of the land, the damages to the property which immediately follow and the legal rights of way to be established over said property. Art. 12. Mining and common properties which are contiguous shall enjoy or suffer, as it may happen, the legal rights of use as regards right of way, aqueduct, drainage and ventilation, the judges governing themselves in the placing of same and in the corresponding indemnities by the laws of each state and of the federal district and territories, in so far as said laws are not modified by the following rules: i. The legal right of way of drainage consists, on the one side, in the obligation which, according to Article 21 of this law, the owner of one appurtenance is under to indemnify the proprietor of another for the damages and injuries done to him by not maintaining the drainage of subterraneous works or not maintaining drainage sufficient to stop the water flowing from one to the other; and on the other side, in the obligation which all owners of appurtenances are under, to permit the passage through same of tunnels and countermines, whose sole and necessary purpose is the drainage of one or several works. ii. The drainage tunnels, when not made by virtue of the compact authorized by Article 23 of this law, can be undertaken only by the owner or owners of appurtenances for whom the said tunnel is absolutely necessary. iii. In the case foreseen by the previous clause, all the owners of appurtenances benefited by the drainage resulting from the said tunnel shall be liable to pay indemnity in proportion to the benefit received, considering the nature and condition of each mine. iv. No person shall begin to drive a tunnel without a previous license, which the department of public works will give after listening to the opinion of the proper mining agent and examining and approving the plans in which are detailed the direction and section of the projected tunnel. v. The paying ore which may be found in driving a tunnel, if it be encountered in appurtenances legally given, is the property of the owner of said appurtenances; and if found in free land it shall be divided among the owners of all the appurtenances benefited by the tunnel in the proportion established by REPUBLIC OF MEXICO MINING LAWS. clause iii. vi. If, through the discovery of one or more veins in land free from concession during the driving of a drainage tunnel, the concession of the respective appurtenances or extensions be applied for, the precepts of Articles 14 to 17 and relative be applied, considering the beginners of the tunnel as parts of explorers for the effects of the final part of Article 13. this law shall vii. When once the license of which clause iv treats has been authorized, only by virtue of express compact can any other persons, besides those who in conformity with said license are benefited by the tunnel, be regarded as members of the undertaking. viii. The owners of appurtenances crossed by a drainage tunnel can, during the driving of the tunnel in his or their respective properties, appoint a confidential inspector whose functions shall be limited to watching the work and giving notice to the agent of the mining district or the presiding judge of any abuse that may be observed. ix. In places where drainage tunnels, for any reason whatever, communicate with mine workings, grates shall be placed to impede transit or passage as soon as the communication is made. x. Only by virtue of an unanimous consent expressed in public writing by those interested in a general drainage tunnel, in conformity with clause iii, can said tunnel be used for any other purposes beyond that of drainage; in which case, under penalty of nullity, all particulars referring to passage or transit indicated in the foregoing clause ix shall be named in the compact. xi. Mines which may be newly opened in places where they can be benefited by a general drainage tunnel already existing shall be subject to the provisions of clauses iii, vii, viii, ix and x. xii. The legal right, of use for ventilation consists in the obligation of every owner of appurtenances to permit his interior workings to communicate with those of proprietors of adjacent properties, to whom the communication produces, as a necessary result, the ventilation which cannot be accomplished in any other manner without great expense. xiii. Unless by special agreement to the opposite, made in a public document by the owners of the property giving and receiving the benefit, there shall always be grates located to impede passage or transit at the borders of the respective properties. xiv. When a communication, different from that foreseen in clause xii effectually ventilates one or more works, that service of ventilation shall give no right to the miner who made the communication to exact indemnity from the proprietors of the other ventilated works, nor shall said other proprietors, in their turn, acquire legal right of use which burdens the mining property that furnishes the ventilation. xv. If during the construction of the open work, according to the provisions of clause xii, paying ore is found, the prescriptions of clauses v, vi and viii shall be observed, so far as they apply to the case. that which applies to the case the prescription of clause iv shall be observed. xvii. All the cost which the work xvi. Also in of making an opening to secure ventilation occasions and the cost of the after keeping of such works shall be for the exclusive account of the party who shall have applied for the legal right of use (for ventilation). xviii. For the future establishment of a legal right or use to the benefit of one mining property and to the burden of another, there shall be required either the acquiescence of the owner of the burdened property expressed in public writing, or in a declaration signed and ratified before judicial authority, or before the department of public works; or an administrative resolution agreed to by the interested parties; owner of appurtenances in whose favor the benefit of legal or a judicial sentence. xix. The right of use accrues, who fails to obtain the consent of the party whose property is to be burdened, may apply to the department of public works, which shall decide within the period and with the formalities established by the regulations what it deems right, always giving previous hearing to the dissenting party. or the applicant should not agree to the administrative If either the latter decision, their right to apply to the respective local tribunals within the time fixed by the regulations remains undiminished. The judgment shall be communicated by the court which pronounces it to the department of public works. xx. If the administrative solution is favorable to the applicant and adverse to the defendant, it can only be executed immediately by the aplicant first giving bonds satisfactory to the department of public works to indemnify for damages and injuries in case the defendant should obtain execution in the tribunal in his own favor. xxi. The regulations of the three preceding clauses apply to all cases in which those laid down in the other clauses give or could give rise to legal contention. II. EXPLORATIONS AND CONCESSIONS: Art. 13. Any inhabitant of the Republic can on government land freely make explorations leading to the discovery of mineral deposits, but if in place of borings, excavations should be made, these cannot exceed ten meters in extent, either in length or in depth. No license is required for said explorations, but previous notice should be given to the respective authorities as the regulations provide. No mining explorations can be made upon private lands without the permission of the owner or his representative; but in case that permission cannot be obtained, the corresponding administrative authority may be petitioned to give it in the manner which the regulations provide, requiring a bond for possible damages and injuries, which the explorer will be obliged to execute to the satisfaction of the authorities after consultation with the owner of the land or his representative. Only by permission of the owner can explorations be made inside of private buildings and their dependencies. Explorations will not be permitted within the boundaries of towns, nor in works, buildings or fortifications of the Republic, nor in their vicinity. The law will fix in all these cases the minimum distances within which said works of investigation can be allowed. During three months, not to be extended, counting from the day of the notice of permission, or of the administrative authority of which this article speaks, the explorer shall have the sole right of obtaining mining appurtenances. Art. 14. The unit of concession or the appurtenance in the future shall be a solid of unlimited depth, limited above ground by that part of the earth's surface bounded by a horizontal rectangle of one hundred meters on a side, and bounded underground by the four corresponding vertical planes. The mining appurtenance is indivisible in all contracts made concerning mining concessions or which affect the ownership. Art. 15. Saving the disposition in the final clause of Article 13 of this law, the concessions shall belong and shall always be given to the first applicant, and shall include in all cases in which there is sufficient land free from concessions, the number of appurtenances which the interested party may ask for, which number he should always clearly specify, and, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations, the situation which the appurtenances forming his concession are to occupy in the land. If between the appurtenances granted and others already existing there remains a space smaller than that of a unit of concession, this space also shall be granted to the first applicant. III. ACQUISITION OF CONCESSIONS: Art. 16. The Departments of State and of Public Works shall name in the states, territories and federal districts its special agents for each, before whom petitions shall be presented for mining concessions. These agents shall be authorized to charge fees according to the tariff which the said department fixes. Art. 17. The agents of the Department of Public Works shall receive the applications for mining concessions, entering at once in a register the day and hour of the presentation. They shall then proceed to the publication of the application, and to the measurement of the appurtenances by the expert or practical man whom they appoint; and, providing there be no opposition, shall send a copy of the proceedings and of the plan to the department of public works for the proper approval and issuance of the title. within which these proceedings shall be fulfilled and will The regulations will fix the periods detail the mode of procedure of the agent. Art. 18. After obtaining the approval of the proceedings and the title of the property issued in his favor, the applicant shall enter into possession of the mining appurtenances without further formality. to of Art. 19. The agents of the Department of Public Works cannot suspend the course of the proceedings, except in case of opposition; and as soon as the term fixed by the regulations transmit at once a copy of the proceedings in the state terminates, they shall be obliged in which it may be found to the department of public works, in order that the latter, after examination, may declare the tardy applicant rejected, if the fault be his, or the exact responsibility of the agent if, because him, the proceedings have been delayed. The tardy applicant cannot re-petition for the same concession. Art. 20. When opposition is presented by the owner of the soil to the applicant for any mining concession or to the taking of the measurements, alleging that the mineral deposit does not exist, then if there should be found any indication of such deposit in the surface of the earth or any cut or work of exploration in the said deposit, the agent of public works shall openly reject the opposition. In case that no indications of the deposit exist in the surface of the earth, nor in any cut or other work of exploration within the limits, a proceeding similar to that of Article 11 of this law shall be followed. The respective judge shall decide if the concession shall be given or not, and his decision is subject to appeal in either case. The writ of execution shall be communicated to the department of public works. to Art. 21. The agents of the Department of Public Works IV. GENERAL DISPOSITIONS: Art. 22. The exploitation of mineral substances, whether belonging to those who have acquired right of property in the same by concession according to this law, or belonging to the owner of the soil, shall be subject to all the measures which the regulations framed under this law shall pre scribe concerning the government and safety of said developments; but complying with these rules, the owners shall enjoy complete liberty of industrial action in order to work in the manner which suits them best, pushing, retarding or suspending for a greater or lesser time their labors, employing in them the numbers of operatives which they wish and at the point which appears to them most fitting; and following, indeed, those systems which they prefer, of use, extraction, drainage and ventilation, according as they judge it most conducive to their interests. Yet the owners remain responsible for accidents which occur in the mines because of being badly worked; and are obliged to indemnify these damages and injuries which they occasion by lack of drainage or by any other circumstance to the owners of adjoining properties. Art. 23. When necessary to hasten the works of the mines of a locality, to push to completion drainage tunnels, the execution of these works shall be subject to contract between the interested parties. Art. 24. Partnerships or companies formed for the development of mines shall be governed by the provisions of the commercial code, excepting those relative to associations which are not admissible in mining matters. Art. 25. The contracts for furnishing sustenance to the miner shall in the future have the character either of partnership, when the provisions of the foregoing article shall be observed, or of mortgage. The mortgage in mining matters may be made freely according to the provisions of the civil code of the federal district, but holding. in account the indivisibility of the appurtenance, established in Article 14 of this law, and observing the provision in the commercial code with regard to registry, for which purpose a special book of mining operations shall be opened. The mortgagee shall always have the right to pay the tax of which Article 5 of this law treats, and shall acquire by said payment a right of preference over the owner of the mine, with precedence of his mortgage. Art. 26. The mortgage can be divided into mortgage notes payable to a specified person or to bearer, in the title constituting the debt or by a later document. In every case it shall contain the provisions governing the common representation of the holders of bonds. These provisions, as well as those relative to the amount of the debt, to the conditions of the same and to the guarantee, shall be plainly printed on each one of the notes. The holders of mortgage notes can only bring their actions against the debtor or the mortgaged property by means of a common representative, whose acts in that which refers to their rights shall be obligatory upon all the holders. Art. 27. The decisions in mining matters shall be rendered in the federal district and territories, or in each state by the judges and courts which are competent there, in accordance with the provisions of the commercial code, observing that prescribed in Chapter 9, Title 1, Book 4, of said mercantile code, upon which basis the first cost of administration indicated in paragraph 2 of Article 1030 of the same code is the tax payment. Art. 28. The new tax which all mining concessions shall return. with the exception of those which are expressly exempt by contract,, shall be a federal property tax and the respective corresponding law will establish it. In regard to other mining taxes, the prescriptions of the law of the 6th of June, 1887, shall be observed. Art. 29. Default in payment of the property tax according to the prescription of the law which ordains it shall constitute, from the day of taking effect of the present law, the only cause for the forfeiture of mining properties, which shall in such case continue free from all burden and shall be granted to the first applicant in accordance with the provisions of this law and its rules. Art. 30. The industry of mining shall belong to the Department of State and of Public Works, Colonization and Industry, which shall therefore have power, in conformity with the prescriptions of the law, to dictate all the measures it shall judge proper to promote the prosperity of the mining industry, and watch the enforcement of said law; to name the inspecting engineers of mines, make studies, conduct investigations and discharge in general the trusts which the department recommends, in accordance with that which the regulations detail. Art. 1. The executive shall designate, in the terms of Article 21 of the federal constitution, the legal penalties which those incur who infringe the provisions of those regulations issued for the application of this law. Over those official transgressions for which the agents of the Department of Public Works may be responsible, the corresponding judges of the district shall have jurisdiction in conformity with the respective laws. The ordinary transgressions committed in the mines are subject to the corresponding territorial judges without prejudice to the legal penalties which in every case the federal authority may impose. Art. 32. The establishment and working of mills and every class of metallurgical offices shall be governed by the prescription of the common law, and, in the matter of taxes, by those of the law of the 6th of June, 1887. Art. 33. That part of those tunnels situated outside of concessionary appurtenances shall remain exempt from tax when they are destined entirely for ventilation, drainage or the extraction of ores which do not originate in or come from said tunnels. V. MINING TAX: [By law of June 6, 1892.] Article 34. In accordance with the provisions of the new mining law, there shall be established a federal property tax, consisting of two parts; one, which has to be paid once only, in stamps to be affixed to all titles of mining property, and the other, which has to be paid annually, for each one of the appurtenances of which a concession is composed. As regards the tax, the appurtenance shall be the one established by Article 14 of the new mining law. Consequently all old and new appurtenances existing in the Republic, whatever be their extent, shall be valued according to this unit. For the fractions of appurtenances that amount to one-half or more, the tax shall be paid as if they were whole appurtenances, and nothing shall be paid for the fraction that is less than one-half. Art. 35. Every owner or actual proprietor of mines, whatever title he may have, shall be obliged to show his documents at the treasury office which the regulations of this law may determine, within the time, not to be extended, counting from the taking effect of this law to the 21st of October of the present year, so that new stamps of ownership of the mines may be affixed to the title, and account taken, for the payment of the annual contribution, of the number of appurtenances which form the property, a corresponding register being opened for this purpose. The titles, which in future the Department of Public Works will extend in accordance with the new mining law, must bear the stamps corresponding to the same. These stamps shall be furnished by the party receiving the concession, in proportion to the appurtenances which the concession contains. Art. 36. The property stamps of the mine shall be of the value of ten dollars and be affixed to the titles of the property, one for each appurtenance of ten thousand square meters; the rule established in Article 34 to be followed regarding the fractions. These stamps must be cancelled by the Department of Public Works. Art. 37. From the first day of July of the present year all owners or proprietors of mines shall pay the sum of ten dollars annually for each one of the appurtenances of which their concessions consist. The amount of the tax shall be the same, whatever the nature of the substance which is being worked, provided that the mine has been acquired through denouncement or special concession before the day on which the new mining law takes effect, and that in future it shall be acquired by concession and title in accordance with the new law. Only those mines shall be exempt from payment of the annual tax on appurtenances and for title stamps of the property which have been expressly freed from the same by contracts made with the executive government in virtue of the authority given and approved by the legislature. This exemption shall only last for the time mentioned in the contract, and no extension of the time will be granted. Art. 38. The annual property tax on mines shall be paid in three advance payments during each fiscal year, this payment to be made during the first month of each third part of a year, in that treasury office which the regulations of this law shall determine, and to which the taxpayers are obliged to go in order to make their payments, without further need of notification or any other requisite on which they might found delay or excuse. Art. 39. Failure of presentation of the title which secures the possession of the mine in the time fixed in Article 35 shall be punished by a fine equal to the stamps which the title has to bear, if the same be presented within two months following the expiration of the time allowed. For every two months that the presentation is delayed the holder shall incur a fine equal to the stamps. The concealment of the number of appurtenances shall be punished with a fine equal to double the amount of the stamps which the title ought to have borne for the concealed appurtenances, to which shall be added double the amount of the annual tax for the whole of the time it has not been paid. This shall not interfere with the civil or criminal responsibility to which the concealer is liable and to which he may be subjected. Failure to pay the annual property tax within the first month of each onethird part of the year shall cause the owner to incur a fine amounting to fifty per cent of the tax, in case he pay during the second month. If the payment be made in the third month, the fine shall be equal to the tax. When once this last-named time has expired without the tax and accumulated fines being paid, the mining property shall be lost to the owner without recourse of any kind. The Department of the Treasury shall make the corresponding declaration and publish it in the Diario Oficial, so that any other party may petition for the property. Art. 40. When the owner of the mine sells it he shall give the requisite notice for noting in the register, and the bill of sale given shall bear the stamps which according to the stamp tax it should have. Art. 41. When it no longer suits a person or company to continue working the mine or mines which he or it may own, the proper officer of the Treasury shall be ad vised in writing, so that the tax may be settled up to Article 1. The special agents, subordinates of the Department of Public Works, whom that department appoints in conformity with the provisions of Article 16 of the law, in those mining districts which in its judgment require the same, shall receive and transmit the applications for mining concessions and extensions which are presented to them, and shall exercise the other functions delegated by the law. application of the law or its regulations, the agents In case of doubt concerning the shall consult the Department of Public Works. Art. 2. At the time of making the appointment, the limits of jurisdiction of each agent shall be fixed, and together with any after modification of the same, shall be published in the Diario Oficial, the official organ of the government. Art. 3. In order to become an agent of the Department of Public Works in the branch of mining, it is required that the appointee be a Mexican citizen in the exercise of his rights, and not occupying any other office of authority of the state, territory or federal district. Art. 4. For each agent of public works named at a mining district, such deputies shall be named as the amount of business in the district requires. Said depu ties should have the same qualifications as the agents, and they have to serve instead of the agents in all temporary or permanent absences of agents, as well as on occasions of legal impediment in certain business, when called upon by the agents. Art. 5. Legal impediments, for agents, will be the same as those which Sections I to IX, and XII, of Article 1132, of the commercial code, establish for judges. Art. 6. In the case of death or serious illness, hindering the appointed agent from calling upon the deputy, the latter shall enter upon the exercise of his functions, at once giving notice to the Department of Public Works by mail, or by telegraph, if there be one. Art. 7. The agents of public works must give notice to the public of the place where they will attend to mining matters and the hours which they will devote to that business, which business cannot be interrupted except on Sundays and national holidays. Art. 8. The agents shall receive no fees, except those which the authorized schedule fixes; except in cases not provided for in said schedule, when the agents shall consult the Department of Public Works concerning the amount of fees to be charged. Art. 9. The agent shall forward to the Department of Public Works, within the first ten days of each month, a detailed report of the applications for mining concessions which he has taken during the preceding month. II. EXPLORATIONS: Art. 10. Every inhabitant of the Republic can make mining explorations in public lands, but shall give in conformity with the law to the agent of public works the necessary notice in duplicate specifying the limits of the territory to be explored. The agent shall return to the explorer the duplicate of the notice, after noting upon it the day and hour of its presentation, reminding him, that, in case he makes excavations, he should subject himself strictly to the provisions of Article 13 of the law and Article 14 of this regulation. Art. 11. If the exploration is to be made on private lands, the explorer shall ask the permission of the owner or representative, who, in case he grants the permission, shall give the explorer a written instrument, stating the limits of the land within which the exploration must be confined. Said instrument shall be presented by the explorer to the agent of public works in order that he may make due record thereof. Art. 12. In case of not obtaining the permission of the owner or representative, the explorer should apply to the agent of public works for the same, naming in his application the bondsman whom he proposes. give notice of said application to the owner of the land, The agent shall with notice that if he make no contest within fifteen days he will be held to have consented. At the end of said fifteen days the agent shall deliver his decision, fixing the amount of security required of the explorer to cover any damages and injuries which may occur, allowing the term of thirty days for the presentation of the same. security having been furnished, the agent shall give to The the explorer a written acknowledgment, on which shall be expressed the limits of the territory to be explored. Art. 13. The agent of public works, during a period of three months, not to be extended, from the date of the notification referred to in Article 10 of this regulation, or of the permission provided by Article 11 or of the administrative decision prescribed in Article 12, shall not admit upon the place of exploration, nor within the limits of the same, applications for concessions other than those which the said explorer presents. Art. 14. The explorers shall not make explorations near the limits of towns, except at the distance of fifty meters from the exterior lines of their buildings, private and public, and of their dependencies. shall be observed with respect to other public works or The same distance constructions, but may from the exterior lines of the common roads, railroads be reduced to thirty meters and canals. With respect to fortified points, the minimum distance at which mining explorations can be made shall be one kilometer from the outer lines of the works. III. are CONCESSIONS: of on exwhich in its for Art. 15. The application for a concession of mining appurtenances or of extensions must be presented in duplicate to the agent of public works. press clearly the number They shall solicited, their appurtenances municipality, situation with the the Jand their identification, and the designation of the mineral most prominent signs substance which it is proposed to exploit. judgment of the agent there is not sufficient clearness in If in the said description, he shall endeavor to obtain it, interrogating the applicant and including his explanations in the application, in his duplicate, and in the record book of the agency, in the presence of the interested party. The inability of the latter to give explanations, or his refusal to do so, shall not be considered a sufficient reason for not making the registry, nor for suspending the other proceedings. Art. 16. The agent cannot accept another application for the same site until the department of public works delivers the final decision in each proceeding for concession of mining appurtenances or extensions. Art. 17. After an application for a mining concession is made to the agent of public works he shall proceed at once to register it in the presence of the applicant. The applications should be registered in the exact order of dates and hours in which they shall have been represented, without leaving blank spaces in the book between the different entries. Art. 18. In the simultaneous presentation of two or more applications fer concession of mining appurtenances or of extensions upon the same, priority of such shall be decided by chance, in the presence of the interested parties. Art. 19. Within three days following the presentation and registry of an application for a mining concession, the agent shall appoint a titled expert, or a practical surveyor to measure the appurtenances and extensions applied for, and draw a corresponding plan, indicating clearly in the same the corners of the appurtenances or extensions expressed, and also those of the contiguous appurtenances which are tract within a radius of one hundred meters. in a surrounding may appoint the expert whom the applicant indicates to The agent him, always providing the said expert complies with the requisite conditions. encountered Art. 20. Within eight days following the appointment of which the preceding article treats, the expert should communicate to the agent whether he accepts the office or not, and if so, what is arranged with the applicant regarding the payment of fees. due acknowledgment in the proceedings. The agent can The agent will enter the only extend the aforesaid period of eight days to another eight, and on one occasion only, at the request of the applicant. Art. 21. At the time of entering the acknowledgment of which the preceding article treats, the agent shall fix for the expert the period of sixty days, not to be prolonged, for him to present in triplicate the plan of which Article 19 speaks, accompanied by explanatory information, and shall proceed to draw up in duplicate an abstract containing the following: i. A copy of the application, with a clear and concise specification of the name and residence of the applicant and of the serial number of the proceeding. ii. The name, residence and acceptance of the expert appointed. iii. A notice that a period of four months, not to be extended, counting from the date of the abstract, is open for the confirmation of the proceeding in the agency. One copy of the abstract shall be posted on the bulletin-board, which shall be placed on the exterior of each of the agencies, requiring of the applicant the cost of the necessary stamps for the publication. stract shall remain fixed for one month upon the bulletinThe abboard, of which due entry shall be made in the proceeding. The other copy of the abstract shall be delivered to the applicant, in order that he may at his own cost and risk and within the forty days following the date of the abstract, cause the same to be published three consecutive times in the official periodical of the respective state, territory or federal district. The applicant is required to deliver at the agency, in order that the same may be attached to the proceeding, the respective issues of the periodicals in which the publications have been made. Art. 22. The publication of the abstract, as given in the preceding article, serves the same summons to all those who may believe they have the right to object to the application for a mining concession. Art. 23. The agent, upon entering the acknowledgment of which Article 20 treats, shall give the expert a certified copy of his appointment, which shall conclude with the warning, that whosoever resists in the execution of |