Act · 1984 Revised Edition
Mining Act
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
s 1
This Act may be cited as the Mining Act.
In this Act and in any rules made thereunder-
"crude oil" means oil in its natural state before the same has been refined or otherwise treated but excluding water and foreign substances;
"petroleum" includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas existing in its natural conditions in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distilla-tion;
"natural gas" means gas obtained from bore-holes and wells and consisting primarily of hydrocar-bons;
"minerals" means and includes coal, gold and all metals and substances in or under the ground obtainable by underground or by surface working, the ores of metals, and precious stones of all de-scriptions, but does not include crude oil, pet-roleum or natural gas;
"to mine" and its cognate expressions includes all operations connected with the winning, smelting, or other treatment of minerals;
"to prospect" and its cognate expressions includes all operations connected with the search for miner-als but does not include search upon the surface of 3ofl920 2 of 1948
(Cap. 42
of1951)
3 of 1951
(Cap. 44
of1951)
S.99159 3 of 1963
Short title
Interpret-ation 3
4
No prospecting or mining without authority
Prospecting licences
Mode of application
Mining the ground not involving any disturbance of the soil below 3 feet in depth.
It is hereby declared that the expressions "land"
and "lands" in this Act include and shall be deemed always to have included the foreshores and the submarine areas beneath the territorial waters of Brunei; and it is further declared that the powers conferred on the Minister by this Act to issue or grant licences and leases thereunder extend and shall be deemed always to have extended to such foreshores and submarine areas.
s 3
Save as provided in the next succeeding subsection any person found to be prospecting or mining upon any land or doing any act with a view to prospecting or mining on the same without having received lawful authority so to do under any of the provisions of this Act, or in breach of any of the conditions thereof, shall be guilty of an offence:
Penalty, a fine of $10,000, and all machinery, plant, tools, buildings or other property together with any materials or other products which may be found upon or proved to have been obtained from the land so unlawfully prospected or mined shall be liable to forfeiture.
Subject to the provisions of this Act and any rules made thereunder His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan in Council may from time to time issue licences to prospect for minerals.
Such licences may cover lands alienated other-wise than for mining purposes either before or after the commencement of this Act.
s 5
Applications for such licences shall be in writing, shall state the name, residence and profession of the appli-cant, shall contain a description, sufficiently accurate for
-
Mining purposes of identification, of the situation, boundaries and area of the land over which the licence is required and shall specify the mineral or minerals for which the applicant de-sires to prospect.
An index shall be kept in which all such applica-tions shall be recorded serially in the order in which they are received and there shall be charged a fee of $500 in respect of every application so recorded:·
Provided that the lodging or filing of an application shall give no claim or priority of claim as a matter of right to the issue of a prospecting licence and that it shall be lawful for
His Majesty in Council, without assigning any cause, to refuse to issue any prospecting licence .. In the event of such refusal all entries in the index relating to such application shall be cancelled.
s 6
A prospecting licence shall be issued for such a term as may be described by His Majesty in Council in each particular case, and His Majesty in Council shall have power to extend such term upon such conditions as he may think fit whenever he is satisfied that the licencee has been prevented from completing his search of the land by any cause other than his own default.
No prospecting licence shall be issued until the security applicant has deposited as security in respect thereof such 5
sum, not being less than $100,000, as the Minister may de-
-
termine.
In lieu of a deposit the Minister may accept from the applicant a bond with a surety approved by the Minister.
s 8
Every prospecting licence shall be substantially in the Forms form set out in Form I of the Schedule to this Act.
6
s 9Mining covenants
There shall be implied in every prospecting licence, in the absence of any express provision to the contrary, the following covenants on the part of the licensee -
That he will pay to the Government the rent and the royalties reserved in his licence at the times and in the manner prescribed by this
Act and will work and carry on the operations licensed in a fair, orderly, skillful and work-manlike manner and with as little damage as possible to the surface of the lands over which the licence extends and to the trees, crops, buildings, structures and other property there-on;
That he will not enter upon any lands in the occupation of any person without the consent of the occupier nor, without the consent of the owner thereof, cut or in any way injure any trees, standing crops or buildings, huts or other structures or property of any kind of any occupier of the said lands or any part there-fore or of any other private person;
That he will make and pay reasonable satisfac-tion and compensation for all injury which n1ay be done in the exercise of the powers conferred by his licence;
That he will at all times indemnify the Gov-ernment against all claims or suits which may be made or brought by third parties in respect of any such damage and injury and against all costs and expenses relating thereto;
That he will not grant or assign any interest under his licence to any person without the previous consent in writing of His Majesty in
Council;
That he will ascertain, in such manner as His
Majesty in Council may from time to time
-
-
Mining prescribe, the value of all minerals won, dres-sed or extracted which may be required to be valued for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of royalty payable in respect thereof, or the terms on which a mining lease shall be issued;
That he will upon the expiration or sooner determination of his licence or the abandon-ment of the undertaking licensed (whichever shall first occur) with all convenient speed re-move all buildings, structures, engines, machinery and other property and effects erected or brought by hi111:.upon the said lands under the provisions of his licence;
That he will within 6 months after the expira-tion or sooner determination of his licence or the date of the abandonment of the undertak-ing licensed (whichever shall first occur)
securely plug all bores and fill up or fence all holes and excavations that he may have made in the lands over which his licence extends to such extent as the Minister may require and will to the like extent restore, so far as may be, to their natural or original condition the surface of the said lands and all buildings and structures thereon which he may have dam-aged in the course of prospecting;
That any deposit made by the licensee or any portion thereof may be applied by the Minis-ter in making good and satisfying the claim of any third parties in respect of any damage or injury, above-mentioned, done by the licen-see and also in indemnifying the Government against any claims by any such third parties in respect of any such injury or damage and all costs and expenses relating thereto:
7
8
Rent and royalty
Mining
Provided that upon the determination of the licence or of any renewal thereof the amount for the time being in de-posit with the Minister or so much thereof as shall not be required by the Minister to be applied as above-mentioned shall, if the licensee shall become the lessee of any mining lease of the said lands or any portion thereof, under the provisions hereinafter contained, be carried to his credit as part of the rents and royalties payable under such lease, or if he shall decline or fail to obtain any such lease as aforesaid, then the same shall be returned to the licensee:
Provided also that if the Minister has reason to anticipate that any such claims as aforesaid are likely to be made by third parties he may retain the amount of the said security or such portion thereof as he may think proper for a period not exceeding 6 months beyond the determination of the licence or any renewal thereof as aforesaid.
s 10
( 1) The rent, if any, reserved on lands covered by a prospecting licence and the royalty payable in respect of minerals won and carried away from such lands shall be such as His Majesty in Council may direct and shall be specified in the licence.
Such rent and royalty shall be payable without demand-
in respect .of rent, in advance for every period for which the licence is granted or renewed;
in respect of royalty, on the removal from the land of the mineral on which it is payable.
In case the licensee shall refuse or neglect to comply with the provisions of this subsection His Majesty in Council may declare the licence to be at an end and it shall thereupon determine accordingly.
-
Mining
s 11CAP. 42
On or before the determination of his licence by effluxion of time the licensee shall have a right, subject to the provisions of this Act, to a mining lease in accordance with the terms contained in any rules for the time being in force for mining leases.
s 12Mining Leases
Except with the sanction of His Majesty in Council no mining title shall be issued for land which has been alienated under the Land Code (Cap. 40), but all land so alienated shall be liable to be resumed for minin,g purposes by His
Majesty in Council upon payment to the grantee or other person entitled thereto of compensation for such interest in the land as is conveyed by his title and for the improve-ments, if any, thereon; such compensation in case of dis-agreement shall be assessed in the manner provided by section 10 of the Land Code.
s 13
Subject to the provisions of this Act and any rules made thereunder His Majesty in Council may, if the appli-cant is entitled to a lease under section 11 or if he considers that the applicant should be granted a mining lease, grant a mining lease in accordance with this Act.
Every application for a mining lease shall be in writing, shall state the name, residence and profession of the applicant, the name of the mineral for which the appli-cant intends to mine, and an address at which notices served shall be deemed to be duly served for the purposes of this
Act.
Every such application shall also be accompanied by a map or sketch showing the area over which the prop-osed lease is to extend.
9
Right of licensee to mining lease
Resumption of alienated land required for mining purposes
Power to issue mining leases
Mode of application
10
Condition implied to carry on mining operations tease subject
, to certain laws
Implied condition of re-entry
s 15Mining
Every mining lease issued under the provisions of this
Act shall be held subject to the condition that the lessee shall commence mining operations upon the land within the period prescribed by the lease and that in the absence of any express provision to the contrary he shall not thereafter at any time during the term of the lease fail for a period of more than 12 consecutive months to carry on efficiently mining operations on the land.
s 16
Every mining lease shall, in the absence of any ex-press provision to the contrary, be subject to the land laws for the time being in respect of the following matters, that is to say-
demarcation and survey;
collection of land revenue;
registration of titles, transfers and charges;
acquisition of land for public purposes .
.. ·
s 17
Every mining. lease shall by virtue of this Act and in the absence of any express provision to the contrary, be subject to the following implied condition in respect of the land comprised therein, that is to say, that in case of a breach of or default of observance of any of the conditions of the said lease, whether expressed or implied by the provi-sions of this Act, the Minister or any officer authorised by him may on behalf of His Majesty re-enter on the land comprised in such lease, or on any portion thereof in the name of the whole, and thereupon the same shall be for-feited to and vest in His Majesty:
Provided that no re-entry shall be made on the ground of any such breach or default as aforesaid that may be capable
-
-
-
-
Mining of being repaired or made good, until after notice shall have been given to repair and make good such breach or default within such reasonable time as may be limited in the notice and the lessee shall nevertheless have persisted in his neg-lect or refusal to repair and make good the same:
And provided further that forfeiture may be enforced notwithstanding the fact that rent may have been received under such lease after the accrual of the liability to forfei-ture, but so that if the forfeiture be enforced any rent re-ceived after the accrual of such liability shall be repaid.
s 18
It shall be lawful for His Majesty in Council to fix a Premium premium to be charged on lands alienated under mining leases:
Provided that no premium shall be charged unless the payment of such premium shall have been made a special condition of the prospecting licence.
The rents reserved on and the royalties to be paid Rents and in respect of minerals won and removed from the lands royalties covered by a mining lease shall be such as His Majesty in
Council may direct and shall be specified in the lease.
The said rents and royalties shall be payable at the times and in the manner prescribed in such leases, with-out demand, and in the event of default being made in respect of such payments (of which default a notice in writ-ing signed by the Minister and served on the lessee shall be sufficient proof), the rents or royalties due shall be deemed to be an arrear and shall be recoverable in the manner prescribed by any law for the time being in force for the recovery of arrears of land rent.
11 20.
Mining leases for coal shall be substantially in the form set out in the First Schedule to this Act and may con-Form of coal leases
12
Restriction on transfer of coal leases
Form of leases of other minerals
Power to make rules
Mining tain special conditions, where such seem desirable, in addi-tion to any prescribed by the general provisions of this Act.
s 21
No mining lease for coal or other minerals shall be transferable without the consent in writing, under the hand of the Minister first had and obtained.
s 22
Mining leases for minerals other than coal shall be in such form as the Minister may from time to time direct subject to the restrictions imposed by this Act.
His Majesty in Council may, from time to time make and, when made, vary, alter, amend, revoke or cancel rules not inconsistent with the general purposes of this Act issue licences to prospect for minerals.
for
Such rules may, among other things, provide
the appointment, duties, privileges and pow-ers of officers to enforce the provisions of this
Act;
the prescribing of fees to be paid in respect of anything done in accordance with the provi-sions of this. Act;
the manner in which applications for prospect-ing licences or mining leases shall be made and dealt with;
the form of licence or lease to be issued in respect of any mineral for which a form is not provided by this Act;
( v) the due control of watercourses and the pre-vention of damage or pollution thereto;
-
-
-
Mining
the precautions to be observed for the health, safety or convenience of the public and for the protection of workmen employed in prospect-ing or mining operations;
the demarcation or survey of lands occupied under the provisions of this Act, and the re-covery of the costs of the same;
the manner in which licences or leases under this Act shall be registered and the procedure in respect of transfers or assignments of the same~
the manner in which the amount of minerals won or royalty payable thereon shall be ascer-tainable;
the alienation by auction or otherwise of blocks of land to be held under mining leases;
the preservation of timber or tracts of forest where necessary in the general interests of
Brunei;
the furnishing of returns by owners or mana-gers of mines and the keeping and production by them of books and plans;
fixing-
the maximum period for leases to mine any mineral;
the maximum area for mining leases;
the maximum quit-rent payable in re-spect of a mining lease;
the issue and control of individual mining rights;
prescribing the fine with which the contraven-tion of any rule made under this Act shall be punishable, but so that such fine shall not ex-ceed $2,000;
13
14
Trial of offences
Mining
any other matters whether similar or not to the above as to which rules may be necessary or desirable for enforcing the provisions or purposes of this Act.
Any such rules, when published, shall have the same force and effects as if they were a part of this Act.
s 24
All offences against the provisions of this Act or any rules made thereunder shall be tried summarily before a magistrate.
-
-
Mining