Section 89 — Mineral Enactment 1999

(1)

Where any land in respect of which a prospecting licence or exploration licence has been granted includes any alienated land or occupied land, the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence shall not carry out any exploration work, other than that conducted from aerial observation or by remote sensing methods, in respect of the land unless the holder thereof –

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(a)

has obtained prior permission of the owner of the alienated land or occupied land, as the case may be; or

(b)

has obtained, if the alienated land or occupied land is subject to the category "agriculture" or to any condition requiring its use for any agricultural purpose, an access order under subsection (3), and any such written permission shall be appended to the licence.

(2)

Where the written permission has been obtained under paragraph (1)(a), the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence shall, before commencing any exploration work, submit such written permission to the Collector in such manner as may be prescribed.

(3)

If the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence –

(a)

has failed to obtain the written permission mentioned in paragraph

(1)

(a)

within a period of six months from the date the licence is issued;

or

(b)

has obtained the written permission mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) but the written permission is subsequently withdrawn, and the land in respect of which the prospecting licence or exploration licence has been granted is subject to the category "agriculture" or to any condition requiring its use for any agricultural purposes, the holder thereof shall notify the Collector in writing of such fact.

(4)

The Collector shall, as soon as practicable after receiving the notice under subsection (3), conduct an inquiry for the purpose of determining –

(a)

whether or not an access order should be granted; and

(b)

the terms and conditions of the access order, if any.

(5)

An access order may include the following matters:

(a)

the date on which the access order shall come into force, but such date shall be no sooner than forty-five days from the date the access order is made;

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(b)

the periods, if any, during which the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence is to be permitted access to the land;

(c)

the parts of the alienated land or occupied land in or on which the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence may explore and the means by which the holder thereof may gain access to these parts of the land;

(d)

the kind of exploration operations that may or may not be carried out in or on the land;

(e)

the conditions to be complied with when exploring in or on the land;

(f)

the measures which the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence needs to take in order to protect the environment while having access to the land and exploring in or on the land;

(g)

the compensation to be paid to any owner of the alienated land or occupied land –

(i)

as a consequence of the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence exploring in or on the land; or

(ii)

for any loss or interference with the owner's right to use the land for monetary gain that may be reasonably attributed to the exploration operations;

(h)

the amount of security, if any, to be deposited with the Collector under section 93 by the holder of the prospecting licence or exploration licence as payment for damages under section 92;

(i)

the manner of resolving any dispute arising in connection with the access order;

(j)

the manner of varying the access order; and

(k)

such other matters as the parties to the access order may agree to include in the access order.

(6)

Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Collector to grant or refuse an access order or with the terms of any such access order made under this section may,

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within thirty days after the date the access order is made or refused, appeal in writing to the Director whose decision shall be final.

(7)

Where an appeal is made under subsection (6), the access order shall have no effect until disposal of the appeal.

(8)

Without prejudice to any proceedings which maybe brought against the holder of a prospecting licence or exploration licence in respect of any contravention of an access order, the owner of the land to which the order relates may, if the holder of a prospecting licence or exploration licence contravenes such order, deny the holder thereof access to the land until –

(a)

the contravention ceases; or

(b)

the contravention is remedied to the reasonable satisfaction of the owner of such land.

(9)

Where the holder of a prospecting licence or exploration licence has been denied access to the land under subsection (8), he may appeal in writing to the Collector whose decision shall be final.

Mining beneath alienated land.