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Statutes of Northern Ireland


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MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - LONG TITLE

An Act to facilitate the discovery and working of minerals, with
certain exceptions, and for connected purposes.{1}
[18th December 1969]
Vesting of mines and minerals in the Ministry of Commerce, with
certain exceptionsVesting of mines and minerals in the Ministry.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 1

1.(1) Subject to subsection (3), the property in all minerals
existing in natural condition in land in Northern Ireland, and in
all mines for the working of such minerals, is hereby vested in
the Ministry of Commerce (in this Act referred to as "the
Ministry").

(2) Without prejudice to the succeeding provisions of this Act
relating to the payment of compensation in respect of the mines and
minerals vested in the Ministry by virtue of subsection (1), those
mines and minerals shall so vest free from all claims or estates
whatsoever and notwithstanding any transferred provision in any local
or private Act.

(3) Subsection (1) shall have effect subject to the exceptions
contained in sections 2 to 7.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 2
Exception of scheduled substances and mines thereof.

2. Subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any substances
such as are mentioned in Schedule 1 (in this Act referred to as
"scheduled substances") or any mines for the working of such
substances.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 3
Exception of mines and minerals already vested in the Ministry.

3. Subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any mines and
minerals which, immediately before the commencement of that section,
were vested in the Ministry whether by virtue of section 6 of, and
Schedule 1 to, the Minerals (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern
Ireland) 1959 (in this Act referred to as "the Act of 1959") or
otherwise howsoever.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 4
Exception of certain other Crown mines and minerals.

4. Subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any mines and
minerals vested in Her Majesty or in any department of the
Government of the United Kingdom.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 5
Exception of mines and minerals the property of religious
denominations and educational institutions.

5. Subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any mines and
minerals which are the property of any religious denomination or
educational institution.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 6
Exception of merged mines and minerals.

6. Subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any mines and
minerals with respect to which a merging order has been made under
section 8 of the Act of 1959 (power of Ministry by order to merge
all rights to or in relation to mines or minerals in any land
which are vested in the Ministry by virtue of section 6 of that
Act in the fee simple in that land, where the minerals are of
insignificant quantity or value).

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 7
Exception of minerals held in connection with mines in work or
being developed, and of mines of such minerals.

7.(1) Subject to section 9(1), where at the commencement for section
1 a person is lawfully working or developing a mine of the working
of minerals of any description or descriptions in any land,
subsection (1) of section 1 shall not apply to any minerals of
that description or those descriptions, or to any mines of such
minerals,

(a)in that land, or

(b)in reserve areas.

(2) In subsection (1) "reserve areas" in relation to minerals of
any description or descriptions means any lands (whether or not
contiguous to the land mentioned in that subsection or to each
other) in which the person so mentioned is entitled to work
minerals of that description or those descriptions.

Registration of mineral rights where mines are in work or being
developed.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 8

8.(1) Every owner of an estate in possession in mines and minerals
which have, by virtue of section 7, been excepted from the
application of section 1(1) shall, before the first appointed day,
make application to the Ministry, in such form accompanied by such
particulars as may be approved by the Ministry, for the registration
of his estate under this section.

(2) Where the mines and minerals are the subject of a settlement
and the trustees, if any, of the settlement have, or any other
person entitled under the settlement has, reason to believe that a
person entitled to make application under subsection (1) cannot, or
it is not likely to, make the application before the first
appointed day, the trustees or that other person may make the
application on his behalf, and if no application is received from
him before that day any application so made shall be deemed to be
made by him.

(3) The Ministry shall keep a register of estates in mines and
minerals to which subsection (1) applies in such form and at such
place, and shall enter in it such particulars of all estates for
the registration of which application is duly made under this
section and is not, or is not treated as, withdrawn, as the
Ministry thinks fit.

(4) The register kept under subsection (3) shall be open for
inspection by any person at all reasonable hours.

(5) A person who makes application under subsection (1), or on
behalf of any other person under subsection (2), for the
registration of an estate in mines and minerals shall, on being so
required by notice served on him by the Ministry, furnish to the
Ministry such further and better particulars as are within his
knowledge or can reasonably be procured by him as the Ministry may
require to enable it to know

(a)whether the mines and minerals are mines and minerals to which
section 7 applies; or

(b)whether the applicant or the person on whose behalf the
application is made is entitled to be registered as the owner of
that estate; or

(c)the nature of the estate, or the extent of the land or the
description of any mines and minerals which is or are subject to
it;

(6) In this section and sections 9 and 10 "estate" means

a legal or equitable life estate;

a legal or equitable fee tail;

a legal or equitable fee simple absolute;

a tenancy; or

an equity of redemption in relation to a mortgage of any of
theabove estates;

Consequences of non-registration under section 8.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 9

9.(1) Where mines and minerals of any description in any land have,
by virtue of section 7, been excepted from the application of
section 1(1) and

(a)no application for the registration under section 8 of any estate
in the mines and minerals of that description in that land is duly
made under subsection (1) or (2) of that section, or

(b)every such application which is so made is or is treated as
withdrawn,

(2) Subsection (1) shall not render unlawful anything otherwise
lawfully done before the first appointed day (or, as the case may
be, the time mentioned in that subsection) by or on behalf of any
person mentioned in section 7, or any successor in title of his,
in or for the purpose of working the mines and minerals in
question.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 10
Safeguards for persons working or developing mines.

10.(1) A person aggrieved by

(a)the refusal of the Ministry to register any estate in mines and
minerals on an application made by him under subsection (1) of
section 8, or by him on behalf of any other person under
subsection (2) of that section, or

(b)any requirement made of him by the Ministry under subsection (5)
of that section,

(2) Where, by virtue of section 9(1), section 1(1) is deemed to
have had effect with respect to any mines and minerals in default
of the registration of some estate therein under section 8, the
Lands Tribunal, on an application made by any person who would have
been entitled to an estate in possession in those mines and
minerals were it not for the operation of section 9(1), or, where
the mines and minerals would have been the subject of a settlement,
by the trustees, if any, of the settlement or any other person
entitled under the settlement, may make an order annulling the
operation of section 9(1) in relation to those mines and minerals
and requiring the registration before a day specified in the order
of any estate therein which is subsisting by virtue of the order;
and where such an order is made sections 8 and 9 and subsection
(1) of this section shall thereafter apply in relation to those
mines and minerals with the necessary modifications and in particular
as if any reference in section 8 or 9 to the first appointed day
were a reference to the day so specified.

(3) On an application under subsection (2) the Lands Tribunal shall
not make an order such as is mentioned in that subsection unless
it is satisfied

(a)that there was good reason for the failure to submit an
application under subsection (1) or (2) of section 8 before the
first appointed day, and

(b)where the Ministry has exercised or proposes to exercise any of
the powers conferred on it by sections 11 and 15 to 19 in
relation to the mines and minerals in question, that the granting
of the application will not prejudice the reasonable and legitimate
interests of the Ministry or any other person.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (3)(b), no order made under this
section shall have the effect of

(a)prejudicing any disposition duly made, licence, permission or
permit duly granted or thing duly done by the Ministry under the
succeeding provisions of this Act or any thing duly done by any
other person under the authority of any such disposition, licence,
permission or permit; or

(b)rendering the Ministry or any such other person liable to any
proceedings whatsoever in consequence of any such disposition,
licence, permission, permit or thing.

Power of Ministry to prospect or grant prospecting licences.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 11

11.(1) Where it appears to the Ministry that any mines and minerals
vested in the Ministry may be situated in any land, the Ministry,
for the purposes of searching for those mines and minerals, may,
subject to any rights conferred upon any other person by any lease
or licence granted by the Ministry and subject to subsections (3)
and (4),

(a)subject to sections 47 and 58(3), enter upon the land and there
do all such things as are necessary for, or reasonably incidental
to, those purposes, and, without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing provisions, in particular make borings, sink pits, remove
water from old workings and take and remove reasonable quantities of
any such minerals for analysis, test, trial or experiment; or

(b)grant to any person, in accordance with the succeeding provisions
of this section and section 12, a licence (in this Act referred to
as "a prospecting licence") authorising that person to do anything
that the Ministry is authorised to do by paragraph (a), subject to
and in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(2) Where the land mentioned in subsection (1) is owned or occupied
by a government department, no exercise of the power conferred by
paragraph (b) of that subsection shall be taken as authorising the
licensee to exercise any right in relation to that land otherwise
than with the written consent of that department.

(3) Before exercising with respect to any land the right conferred
by paragraph (a) or the power conferred by paragraph (b) of
subsection (1), the Ministry shall notify its intention to do so by
publishing in two successive weeks in the Belfast Gazette and in
one or more than one newspaper circulating in the locality where
the land is situated a notice

(a)stating that the Ministry proposes to exercise the right or power
in question;

(b)mentioning the land in relation to which the right or power is
proposed to be exercised; and

(c)naming a place or places (including at least one place in the
locality) where maps identifying the land are available for
inspection at all reasonable hours.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (3), the Ministry, not less than
one month before exercising the right or, as the case may be, the
power mentioned in that subsection, shall serve notice of its
intention to do so on

(a)every other government department;

(b)every local authority within whose area the land, or any part of
the land, in relation to which the right or power is proposed to
be exercised is situated; and

(c)every public body which, in the opinion of the Ministry, will be
materially affected by any activity likely to be carried on in the
exercise of the right or in consequence of the exercise of the
power.

(5) Where the Ministry publishes under subsection (3), or serves
under subsection (4), a notice with respect to the proposed exercise
of any right or power, before exercising that right or, as the
case may be, that power it shall take into account any
representations which are made to it

(a)by any person other than a person on whom such a notice was
served, before the expiration of a period of one month from the
date of the last such publication;

(b)by the person on whom such a notice was served, before the
expiration of a period of one month from the date of the service
of the notice on him or such longer period as the Ministry may in
any case permit in writing.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 12
Provisions with respect to prospecting licences.

12.(1) Before granting a prospecting licence the Ministry may require
the applicant to furnish evidence as to his character, financial
standing or technical qualifications and to give such security as
the Ministry may think fit for the fulfilment of his obligations
under the licence.

(2) A prospecting licence may be granted for such consideration, if
any, as may be agreed upon between the Ministry and the applicant,
and shall be for such period and upon such other terms and
conditions as may be specified in the licence.

(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2), it shall be a condition of
the granting of a prospecting licence that the applicant shall pay
a reasonable sum towards the Ministry's costs in connection with the
grant.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 13
Working of mines and minerals by licensees and duty to give
information respecting minerals.

13.(1) Without prejudice to any power conferred under section
11(1)(b), the licensee under a prospecting licence shall work mines
and minerals only to such extent as is reasonably necessary for
enabling him to ascertain the existence, character, extent or value
of the mines and minerals to which his licence relates, and shall
not sell or otherwise dispose of minerals worked by him except for
the purpose of ascertaining the character or value thereof.

(2) The licensee shall cause to be quantified (by weighing or in
such other manner as the Ministry may approve) all minerals worked
by him and shall keep records in the prescribed manner of all
minerals worked or sold or otherwise disposed of by him, and shall
produce such records for inspection by any authorised officer of the
Ministry, when so required.

(3) The licensee shall keep the Ministry informed of any knowledge
gained by him as to the existence, character, extent or value of
mines and minerals in the lands to which the licence relates and
of the result of any analysis, test, trial or experiment carried
out by him or on his behalf in relation to such minerals.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 14
Undertaking by the Ministry to grant mining leases, etc.

14.(1) On the granting, or at any time during the currency, of a
prospecting licence, the Ministry may give an undertaking to the
licensee under the licence that if, at any time during the currency
or on the expiration of the licence, the Ministry is satisfied that
the prospecting carried on by the licensee has been successful and
that the terms and conditions of the licence have been observed and
performed, the Ministry will

(a)subject to subsection (2), grant to the licensee by way of
mining lease or mining licence under the succeeding provisions of
this Act (to take effect from such date, either before or after
the expiration of the prospecting licence, as may be specified in
the mining lease or mining licence) the right to work mines and
minerals vested in the Ministry;

(b)subject to subsections (2) and (3), take such steps as are
reasonably practicable to secure

(i)the acquisition by the Ministry in pursuance of this Act of any
land or any ancillary rights which it is necessary or expedient to
acquire in order that the rights granted under paragraph (a) may be
conveniently and properly exercised, and

(ii)the making available to the licensee of all or any of the land
or rights so acquired, by means of a permit granted by the
Ministry to the licensee in accordance with the succeeding provisions
of this Act.

(2) An undertaking under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1)
shall not operate to require the Ministry to grant the right
mentioned in the said paragraph (a) or to acquire or make available
the land or ancillary rights mentioned in the said paragraph (b),
where by reason of any material change in circumstances it is not
in the public interest to implement the undertaking.

(3) An undertaking under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall not
operate to require the Ministry to acquire or make available any
land or ancillary rights unless the Ministry is satisfied that it
is not reasonably practicable for the licensee otherwise to obtain
the land or rights for any of the following reasons

(a)that the persons with power to transfer or concur in transferring
the ownership of the land or to grant or concur in granting the
rights are numerous or have conflicting interests;

(b)that such persons, or any of them, cannot be ascertained or
cannot be found;

(c)that such persons, or any of them, have not the necessary powers
of disposition, whether by reason of defect in title, legal
disability or otherwise;

(d)that any such person unreasonably refuses to transfer or concur
in transferring the land or to grant or concur in granting the
right or, as a condition of doing so, makes demands which, having
regard to the circumstances, are unreasonable.

(4) An undertaking under subsection (1) shall be in writing in such
form as the Ministry thinks fit, and shall specify the terms and
conditions upon which the undertaking is given; and every such
undertaking shall include a condition that the licensee shall
reimburse the Ministry in respect of any expenditure which may be
incurred in connection with the procedures mentioned in that
subsection.

Power of Ministry to work mines and minerals.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 15

15. The Ministry may, subject to any rights conferred by any lease
or licence granted by the Ministry, work any mines and minerals
vested in the Ministry and may dispose of any minerals so worked
by sale or otherwise.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 16
Power to sell estate in mines and minerals.

16. Where mines and minerals in any land are vested in the
Ministry, the Ministry may sell its full estate in them or any
lesser estate.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 17
Mining leases.

17.(1) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, the
Ministry may make a lease (in this Act referred to as a "mining
lease") of any rights to or in relation to mines and minerals of
any description which are vested in the Ministry.

(2) A mining lease may contain a clause providing for the renewal
or successive renewals thereof, either unconditionally or subject to
such conditions as may be stated in the lease.

(3) In exercising the powers conferred on it by this section and
in particular in fixing the payments to be made by the lessee
under a mining lease and determining what covenants or conditions
should be contained in the lease the Ministry may take into
consideration the general advantages that are likely to accrue to
Northern Ireland from the development of the mines and minerals
demised by the mining lease.

(4) Where the payments to be made by the lessee under a mining
lease are proposed to be fixed at a reduced amount in consideration
of any advantages such as are mentioned in subsection (3), the
Ministry shall not grant the lease otherwise than with the approval
of the Ministry of Finance, and if the payments are so fixed that
fact shall be stated in the lease.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 18
Mining licences.

18. The Ministry may grant by way of licence (in this Act referred
to as a "mining licence") the right to work or otherwise deal with
mines and minerals of any description which are vested in the
Ministry.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 19
Mining permissions.

19.(1) Where mines and minerals of any description are vested in
the Ministry, and any person

(a)desires to obtain permission to work minerals of that description
in small quantities by means of such mines or otherwise, and

(b)satisfies the Ministry that, on account of the small value or
quantity of the minerals which he desires to work, or the limited
period for which he desires to work them, or for any other reason,
the permission required is of minor importance and will not
materially affect the deposit of minerals vested in the Ministry,

(2) Every mining permission shall be in writing and shall be
expressed and shall operate to confer on the person to whom it is
granted a right to work mines and minerals of the description
specified therein, but subject to such restrictions as to the
quantity of minerals to be worked and the duration of working as
may be so specified.

(3) A mining permission shall not operate to confer on the grantee
thereof an exclusive mining right in respect of the mines and
minerals to which the permission relates.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 20
Conditions of disposal.

20.(1) Before granting a mining lease, mining licence or mining
permission the Ministry may require the applicant to furnish evidence
as to his character, financial standing or technical qualifications.

(2) Subject to section 21(2), before exercising any power of working
mines and minerals in any land under section 15 or any power of
selling an estate in such mines and minerals under section 16, and
before granting any mining lease, mining licence or mining permission
with respect to mines and minerals in any land, the Ministry shall
notify its intention to do so by publishing in two successive weeks
in the Belfast Gazette and in one or more than one newspaper
circulating in the locality where the land is situated, a notice

(a)stating the manner in which the Ministry proposes to exercise the
power;

(b)mentioning the land in relation to which the power is proposed
to be exercised;

(c)naming a place or places (including at least one place in the
locality) where maps identifying the land are available for
inspection at all reasonable hours; and

(d)notifying all persons who may be concerned that payment of

(i)the compensation in respect of mines and minerals for which
provision is made in the succeeding provisions of this Act, or

(ii)the percentage provided for in section 13(3) of the Irish Land
Act 1903,

(d)may fall to be made in consequence of the exercise of the
power.

(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2) and subject to section
21(3), the Ministry, not less than one month before exercising any
power of working mines and minerals under section 15 or any power
of selling or leasing under section 16 or 17, shall serve notice
of its intention to do so on

(a)every other government department;

(b)every local authority within whose area is situated the land, or
any part of the land, in which the mines and minerals proposed to
be worked or proposed to be the subject of the sale or lease are
situated;

(c)every public body which, in the opinion of the Ministry, will be
materially affected by any activity likely to be carried on in
connection with the working of those mines and minerals; and

(d)the owners and occupiers of the land in which the mines and
minerals to be affected by the exercise of the power are situated.

(4) Where the Ministry publishes under subsection (2), or serves
under subsection (3), a notice with respect to the proposed exercise
of any power, before exercising that power it shall take into
account any representations which are made to it

(a)by any person other than a person on whom such a notice was
served, before the expiration of a period of one month from the
date of the last such publication;

(b)by the person on whom such a notice was served, before the
expiration of a period of one month from the date of the service
of the notice on him or such longer period as the Ministry may in
any case permit in writing.

(5) Subject to section 17(3) and section 21(1), any disposal of
minerals worked under section 15, or any sale of an estate in
mines and minerals under section 16, or any grant of a mining
lease, mining licence or mining permission, shall be for such
consideration as may appear to the Ministry to be fair, and, in
the case of any such lease, licence or permission, may be for a
consideration by way of royalties (with or without any other
payments) calculated in such manner as may be agreed upon between
the Ministry and the person in whose favour the grant is made and
upon such other terms and conditions as may be specified in the
instrument by which the grant is effected; and the conditions
aforesaid may, in particular, include a condition regarding the
giving of security by the person in whose favour the grant is made
for the fulfilment of his obligations under the lease, licence or
permission.

(6) Without prejudice to subsection (5) and subject to section
21(7), it shall be a condition of the sale by the Ministry of any
estate in mines and minerals or the grant of a mining lease,
mining licence or mining permission that the purchaser or, as the
case may be, the person to whom the lease, licence or permission
is granted shall pay a reasonable sum towards the Ministry's costs
in connection with the sale or grant.

(7) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this Act, and
notwithstanding anything contained in any transferred provision, moneys
received by the Ministry in respect of any consideration such as is
mentioned in subsection (5) may be held by the Ministry for the
purpose of being applied, so far as applicable, in paying the
compensation mentioned in section 29 or the percentage mentioned in
section 37.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 21
Disposal for nominal or no consideration in certain cases.

21.(1) Where

(a)the Ministry proposes to make any disposal of radioactive
minerals, or any disposition of any estate in, or rights to or in
relation to, such minerals thereof, to the Minister of Technology or
the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for the purposes of his
or their functions under the Atomic Energy and Radioactive Substances
Acts 1946 to 1959; or

(b)it appears to the Ministry, after due enquiry and investigation,
that minerals vested in the Ministry, of significant quantity or
value, are unlikely to exist in any land, and the Ministry proposes
to make a disposition of any estate in such minerals or any mines
thereof to the owner of the land; or

(c)the Ministry proposes to dispose of minerals worked under section
15, or to grant a mining permission with respect to any mines and
minerals, and it appears to the Ministry that any consideration
which might be obtainable therefor would be insignificant or that
any payments which would fall to be made by the Ministry to other
persons in consequence of the disposal or grant would be too
trifling to justify the expense of distribution; or

Para.(d) spent subject to subsection (6) of section 20 (so far as
that subsection is applicable) any such disposal or disposition may
be made or any such mining permission may be granted for no
consideration or a nominal consideration.

(2) Where the Ministry proposes

(a)to work any mines and minerals under section 15 in circumstances
such that the provisions of paragraph (a) or (c) of subsection (1)
are likely to apply to the disposal of the minerals gotten by such
working, or

(b)to make a disposition such as is mentioned in paragraph (a), (b)
or (d) of that subsection,

(3) Where the Ministry proposes to make a disposition of any estate
in mines and minerals in any land in circumstances such as are
mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1), it shall not be
necessary for it to serve the notices mentioned in section 20(3).

(4) In subsection (1)(a) "radioactive minerals" means minerals from
which in the opinion of the Minister of Technology any prescribed
substance within the meaning of the Atomic Energy Act 1946 can be
obtained.

(5) Where a disposition of any estate in mines and minerals in any
land is made by the Ministry under subsection (1)(b), the
disposition shall not prejudice the rights of any person entitled to
the whole or any part of the percentage provided for in subsection
(3) of section 13 of the Irish Land Act 1903; and upon the
disposition becoming operative the second proviso to the said
subsection (3) shall in its application to the land have effect as
if the reference therein to twenty-five per cent. of any rent,
purchase money or other net profit received by the Ministry upon a
disposal of mining rights by the Ministry were a reference to
twenty-five per cent. of any rent, purchase money or other net
profit in respect of the mines and minerals which is received by
the owner of the land upon a disposal of any mining rights by
him.

Subs.(6) spent

(7) Where a disposition such as is mentioned in paragraph (b) or
(d) of subsection (1) is made in circumstances where that paragraph
applies, section 20(6) shall not apply but the Ministry may require
the person to whom the disposition is made to pay a reasonable sum
towards the Ministry's costs in connection with the disposition.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 22
Rights of entry and user of land containing mines and minerals
vested in the Ministry.

22.(1) Subject to sections 47 and 58(3), for the purpose of working
any mines and minerals under section 15 or for any purpose
incidental thereto the Ministry may enter on or into any land in
which the mines and minerals are situated and use the land in such
manner as may be necessary for, or reasonably incidental to, that
purpose.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where the Ministry sells an estate
in mines and minerals or where mines and minerals are the subject
of a mining lease, the Ministry may,

(a)by the conveyance grant to the purchaser, or

(b)by the lease confer on the lessee, during the currency of the
lease,

(3) Where the mines and minerals comprised in a sale to which
subsection (2) applies or a mining lease are situated in land which
is owned or occupied by a government department, no exercise of the
power confered by that subsection shall be taken as authorising the
purchaser or lessee to exercise any right in relation to that land
otherwise than with the written consent of that department.

Acquisition of land and ancillary rights.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 23

23.(1) Where it appears to the Ministry that, for the purpose of
facilitating the working of any mines and minerals (whether vested
in the Ministry or not), it is necessary or expedient to acquire
any land or any ancillary right, the Ministry may acquire any such
land or right by agreement, or, if satisfied that it is in the
public interest to do so, may by order compulsorily acquire that
land or that ancillary right.

(2) The Ministry may also exercise the powers conferred by virtue
of subsection (1), so far as they relate to the acquisition of
ancillary rights, where it appears to the Ministry that it is
necessary or expedient to do so to facilitate searching for mines
and minerals by

(a)the Ministry, or

(b)any person to whom a prospecting licence is granted, or

(c)any person who is the owner of mines and minerals of any
description in any land and proposes to search for mines and
minerals of that description in that land, or

(d)any person who is the holder of any authorisation corresponding
to a prospecting licence which has been granted to him by a person
such as is mentioned in paragraph (c),

(3) An order made under subsection (1) or (2) is in this Act
referred to as a "mining facilities order", and any land or
ancillary right acquired by agreement under that subsection or by an
order is in this Act referred to as an "acquired mining facility".

(4) The provisions of Schedule 2 shall apply with respect to the
making and effect of mining facilities orders.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 24
Provisions supplemental to section 23.

24.(1) A mining facilities order may provide for the incorporation
in the order of any transferred provision contained in a clauses
Act, subject to any modifications of that provision specified in the
order.

(2) The powers conferred on the Ministry by section 23 may be
exercised over land

(a)which is the property of a local authority, or

(b)which is the property of any public body which has power under
any transferred provision to acquire land compulsorily, or

(c)which is declared by or under any transferred provision to be
inalienable,

(3) The Ministry shall not make a mining facilities order in
relation to any land [on or in which there is a historic
monument], without the consent of the Ministry of Finance.

(4) The powers conferred by sections 23 to 26 shall not be
exercised for the purpose of facilitating the working of any
scheduled substance except to the extent that the working of that
substance is necessary or expedient for the purpose of facilitating
the working of any mineral which is not a scheduled substance.

(5) Section 23 does not authorise the compulsory acquisition of any
land, or of ancillary rights over any land, which is the property
of Her Majesty or any government department or any religious
denomination or educational institution.

(6) In subsection (1) "clauses Act" means any act for consolidating
in one Act provisions usually contained in Acts authorising the
carrying out of particular undertakings.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 25
Exercise by Ministry of acquired mining facilities.

25. The Ministry may make use of any acquired mining facility

(a)where it is acquired under section 23(1), for the purpose of
facilitating the working of, or

(b)where it is acquired under section 23(2), for the purpose of
facilitating searching for,

Mining facilities permits.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 26

26.(1) Without prejudice to subsection (4), the Ministry may grant
to any person who

(a)under any mining lease or mining licence granted by the Ministry,
or

(b)by virtue of his ownership of any other estate in land,

(2) Where any ancillary rights have been acquired under subsection
(2) of section 23, a corresponding permit may also be granted to a
person such as is mentioned in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of that
subsection, where it appears to the Ministry to be necessary or
expedient to authorise him to use those rights for the purpose of
facilitating his searching for mines and minerals.

(3) A permit granted under subsection (1) or (2) is in this Act
referred to as a "mining facilities permit".

(4) Where the Ministry proposes to grant both a prospecting licence
or a mining lease or a mining licence and one or more than one
mining facilities permit to the same person in respect of the same
mines and minerals, the mining facilities permit or permits may, if
the circumstances permit, be included in the prospecting licence, the
mining lease or, as the case may be, the mining licence.

(5) An application may be made to the Ministry for a mining
facilities permit notwithstanding that any land or ancillary right to
which the permit is proposed to relate has not, at the time of
application, been acquired by the Ministry, but the Ministry shall
not acquire any land or ancillary rights under section 23 by
agreement, or make a mining facilities order, in consequence of such
an application, unless the Ministry is satisfied that it is not
reasonably practicable for the applicant otherwise to acquire the
land or ancillary rights with respect to which the application for
the permit is made for any of the reasons mentioned in paragraphs
(a) to (d) of section 14(3).

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 27
Conditions of mining facilities permits.

27. A mining facilities permit shall be granted for such
consideration, if any, as may be agreed upon between the Ministry
and the applicant and shall be subject to such terms and conditions
as may be specified in the permit; and such a permit

(a)may, in particular, include a condition regarding the giving of
security by the person to whom the permit is granted for the
fulfilment of his obligations under the permit; and

(b)shall include a condition requiring that person to pay to the
Ministry sums equivalent to the amounts of

(i)any costs incurred by the Ministry in acquiring the land, or any
ancillary right, to which the permit relates, and

(ii)any consideration or compensation (including any interest thereon)
payable by the Ministry in connection with the acquisition,

(b)except to the extent that any such sums have already been so
paid by that or any other person in consequence of the grant of a
previous mining facilities permit; and, notwithstanding anything
contained in any transferred provision, any sum which is paid to
the Ministry under sub-paragraph (ii) may be held by the Ministry
for the purpose of being applied by it in paying the consideration
or compensation in question.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 28
Surrender of acquired mining facilities.

28.(1) The Ministry, at the request of any person who has an
estate in land the subject of acquired mining facilities, may
surrender any such facility on such terms and for such
consideration, if any, as may be agreed upon.

(2) Where a mining facilities permit is in force with respect to
any facility such as is mentioned in subsection (1), the facility
shall not be surrendered under that subsection otherwise than with
the consent of the holder of the permit.

Compensation for mines and minerals vested in the Ministry under
section 1.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 29

29.(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 35,
compensation shall be payable by the Ministry in accordance with the
succeeding provisions of this section, and not otherwise, in respect
of mines and minerals vested in the Ministry by virtue of section
1(1).

(2) Compensation shall be payable under this section in any of the
following events, that is to say,

(a)on the sale by the Ministry of an estate in any such mines and
minerals, or

(b)on the grant by the Ministry of a mining lease, mining licence
or mining permission with respect to any such mines and minerals,
or

(c)on the disposal by the Ministry of any such minerals which have
been worked by the Ministry under section 15,

(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) compensation under this
section in respect of mines and minerals of any description in any
land

(a)where the Ministry sells an estate in the mines and minerals,
shall be in the form of a sum equivalent to so much of the net
profits accruing from the sale as is attributable to the mines and
minerals of that description in that land;

(b)where the Ministry grants a mining lease, mining licence or
mining permission, shall be in the form of sums equivalent to so
much of the net amount of any fine, rent or royalties thereunder
as is attributable to the mines and minerals of that description in
that land; and

(c)where minerals worked by the Ministry are disposed of by the
Ministry, shall be in the form of sums equivalent to the sums
which would have been payable under paragraph (b) if the minerals
had been worked by a lessee under a mining lease.

(4) Where the payments made by the lessee under a mining lease are
stated in the lease to be fixed at a reduced amount in
consideration of any advantages such as are mentioned in section
17(3),

(a)subsection (3)(b) shall have effect as if the reference therein
to the net amount of any fine, rent or royalties under the lease
were a reference to the amount which would have taken the place of
that net amount if the payments had not been so fixed, and

(b)accordingly, subsection (2) shall not have effect so as to
restrict the fund out of which compensation is payable to the net
profits accruing to the Ministry in consequence of the grant of the
lease,

(5) Where any compensation has been paid under the succeeding
provisions of this Act for the loss of any dead rent or other
fixed annual payment which was payable in respect of mines and
minerals vested in the Ministry by virtue of section 1(1), any
compensation which would otherwise be payable under this section in
respect of those mines and minerals shall be reduced by the amount
of the first-mentioned compensation or such lesser amount, if any,
as may be appropriate.

(6) In this section any reference to the net profits, or the net
amount of any fine, rent or royalties, accruing to the Ministry in
consequence of any event is a reference to the amount of any
profit, fine, rent or royalty so accruing less all costs and
expenses incurred by the Ministry in connection with or in
consequence of that event (which may include so much of the
administrative expenses of the Ministry as are apportionable to that
event); and for the puposes of this subsection a certificate of the
Ministry as to the amount of those costs and expenses shall be
prima facie evidence thereof.

(7) The costs and expenses referred to in subsection (6) do not
include

(a)any costs such as are mentioned in subsection (6) of section 20
to the extent that they are defrayed by sums paid under that
subsection;

(b)any costs in connection with a claim for compensation under this
section which are directed by the Lands Tribunal to be paid by the
Ministry; or

(c)any costs which are paid by the Ministry by virtue of paragraph
12(2) of Schedule 2 as applied by section 42.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 30
Persons entitled to compensation under section 29.

30.(1) The right to compensation under section 29 in respect of
mines and minerals of any description in any land shall be deemed
to have vested in the persons who, immediately before the
commencement of section 1(1), were entitled to any estate in the
mines and minerals of that description in that land and may be
disposed of or shall devolve accordingly.

(2) Where, by virtue of section 9(1), section 1(1) is deemed to
have had effect with respect to any mines and minerals so as to
vest them in the Ministry, subsection (1) shall have effect as if
the reference therein to the persons who, immediately before the
commencement of section 1(1), were entitled to any estate in the
mines and minerals were a reference to the persons who, immediately
before section 1(1) was first deemed to have had effect with
respect to those mines and minerals, were entitled to such an
estate.

f5nbbw0261
(a)stating that such compensation may be payable;

(b)mentioning the land in relation to which rights to compensation
may arise;

(c)naming a place or places (including at least one place in the
locality) where maps identifying the land are available for
inspection at all reasonable hours; and

(d)indicating that any person who, having regard to the provisions
of section 30, is entitled to compensation in respect of the mines
and minerals of that description in that land or any part of it
may submit his claim for such compensation to the Ministry within a
period of one year from the date of the first publication of the
notice.

(2) On the expiration of the period mentioned in paragraph (d) of
subsection (1), or (if all relevant claims appear to the Ministry
to have been submitted) of such lesser period as appears to the
Ministry to be appropriate, the Ministry shall proceed to consider
the claims submitted as mentioned in that paragraph.

(3) Where the Ministry is satisfied that good reasons exist for the
failure of any person to submit a claim for compensation under
section 29 before the expiration of the period mentioned in
subsection (1)(d), his claim may be accepted after the expiration of
that period.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 32
Claims for compensation under section 29.

32.(1) Where in consequence of any event such as is mentioned in
subsection (2) of section 29 (in this section referred to as "the
relevant event") affecting any land compensation is payable to any
persons under that section in respect of mines and minerals of any
description in that land, there shall, after the expiration of the
period mentioned in subsection (1)(d) of section 31 or (if either
no notice has been published under section 31 or such a notice has
been published and all relevant claims appear to the Ministry to
have been submitted) of such lesser period as appears to the
Ministry to be appropriate, in default of agreement be referred to
the Lands Tribunal any question arising as to the extent to which
the net profits accruing to the Ministry in consequence of that
event are attributable

(a)to the mines and minerals of that description in the part of
the land in relation to which each claim for such compensation
(including any late claim already accepted under section 31(3)) has
been submitted, and

(b)to the mines and minerals of that description in any part or
parts of the land in relation to which no such claim has been
submitted;

(2) In making a determination under subsection (1) as to the extent
to which the net profits accruing from the working of minerals of
any description are attributable to the mines and minerals of that
description in any part or parts of any land, the Lands Tribunal
shall have regard to all relevant factors, including, in particular,

(a)any estimate of the relative potential value of minerals of that
description in each such part of that land which was or might have
been made immediately before the relevant event or, where minerals
worked by the Ministry on any occasion have been disposed of by
the Ministry, immediately before minerals of that description were
first so worked on that occasion;

(b)any development plans or proposals affecting any such part or
parts of the land which have been formulated by the person working
or intending to work the minerals (including, in particular, any
plans or proposals as to the location of services such as are
mentioned in paragraphs (c) to (h) of section 56(3));

(c)any findings, subsequent to the relevant event or, as the case
may be, the time when minerals of that description were first
worked as mentioned in paragraph (a), as to the location of
minerals of that description in any such part or parts of the
land.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 33
Determination of attribution of net profit.

33.(1) Any question arising as to the entitlement of any person to
the compensation payable under section 29 which is attributable to
mines and minerals of any description in, or in any part of, any
land shall, in default of agreement, be referred to and determined
by the Lands Tribunal.

(2) Where the circumstances permit, a reference to the Lands
Tribunal under this section and a reference under section 32 may,
with the consent of the Tribunal, be made in a single reference.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 34
Determination of title to compensation under section 29.

34. Any question arising as to

(a)the sums which would have been payable under paragraph (b) of
subsection (3) of section 29 in circumstances such as are mentioned
in paragraph (c) of that subsection; or

(b)the amount which would have taken the place of the net amount
of any fine, rent or royalties under a mining lease, as mentioned
in subsection (4)(a) of that section, if the payments made by the
lessee under the lease had not been fixed at a reduced amount
under section 17(3); or

(c)the appropriate amount of any reduction in compensation under
section 29 which falls to be made by virtue of subsection (5) of
that section; or

(d)the existence of good reasons such as are mentioned in section
31(3), where the Ministry has not accepted a late claim,

Determination of certain other questions in relation to compensation
under section 29.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 35

35.(1) Subject to subsections (3) to (5), where under a disposition
made before 31st July 1969 any mines and minerals vested in the
Ministry by virtue of subsection (1) of section 1 were immediately
before the commencement of that section held by any person subject
to a dead rent or other fixed annual payment, compensation for the
loss of that rent or payment (or, where the rent or payment was
attributable in part to mines and minerals so vested, for the loss
of the part so attributable) shall be payable by the Ministry to
the person who was entitled to receive that rent or payment.

(2) The provisions of sections 29 to 34 shall not apply to the
payment of compensation under this section, and accordingly any such
compensation may take the form of a lump sum payment or such other
form as may be agreed or as may be determined by the Lands
Tribunal.

(3) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not confer a
right to compensation for the loss of any dead rent or other
payment which was payable in respect of mines and minerals with
respect to which section 1(1) is deemed to have had effect by
virtue of section 9(1).

(4) If any disposition of an estate in, or rights to or in
relation to, mines and minerals held as mentioned in subsection (1)
is made to any person for no consideration or a nominal
consideration in exercise of the power conferred by paragraph (d) of
section 21(1), no compensation shall be payable under this section
to that person, or any other person such as is mentioned in that
paragraph, after the making of the disposition.

(5) Where compensation in respect of mines and minerals has been
paid to any person under section 29, any compensation which would
otherwise be payable to him under this section shall be reduced by
the amount of the first-mentioned compensation or such lesser amount,
if any, as may be appropriate.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 36
Compensation for loss of dead rent.

36.(1) Subject to subsection (2), every claim for compensation under
section 35 for the loss of any dead rent or other payment shall
be submitted to the Ministry before the expiration of the period of
one year from the date of the commencement of section 1.

(2) Where the Ministry is satisfied that good reasons exist for the
failure of any person to submit a claim for the compensation
mentioned in subsection (1) before the expiration of the period so
mentioned, his claim may be accepted after the expiration of that
period.

(3) Any question arising as to

(a)the entitlement of any person to compensation under section 35,
or

(b)the amount payable by way of that compensation, or

(c)the existence of good reasons such as are mentioned in subsection
(2), where the Ministry has not accepted a late claim, or

(d)the appropriate amount of any reduction in that compensation which
falls to be made by virtue of section 35(5),

Claims for compensation under section 35 and determination of
disputes.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 37

37.(1) Where an estate in mines and minerals in any land is sold,
or a mining lease, mining licence or mining permission with respect
to mines and minerals in any land is granted, or minerals in any
land which have been worked by the Ministry are disposed of, by
the Ministry under this Act in circumstances such that twenty-five
per cent. of any rent, purchase-money or other net profit received
by the Ministry in respect thereof may be payable under the second
proviso to section 13(3) of the Irish Land Act 1903 to the former
vendors of an estate to which that proviso applies, the Ministry,
unless it is aware of the names of all persons who are entitled
to that percentage, shall publish, in two successive weeks, in the
Belfast Gazette and in such newspapers as appear to the Ministry to
be appropriate, a notice

(a)stating that the said twenty-five per cent. may be available for
distribution;

(b)mentioning the land and the name and record number (if known) of
the estate;

(c)naming a place or places where maps identifying the land are
available for inspection at all reasonable hours; and

(d)indicating that any person who is entitled to that percentage in
respect of that land may submit his claim therefor to the Ministry
within a period of one year from the date of the first publication
of the notice.

(2) On the expiration of the period mentioned in paragraph (d) of
subsection (1), or (if all relevant claims appear to the Ministry
to have been submitted) of such lesser period as appears to the
Ministry to be appropriate, the Ministry shall proceed to consider
the claims submitted as mentioned in that paragraph.

(3) Where the Ministry is satisfied that good reasons exist for the
failure of any person to submit a claim as mentioned in paragraph
(d) of subsection (1) before the expiration of the period mentioned
in that paragraph, his claim may be accepted after the expiration
of that period.

(4) Where the payments made by a lessee under a mining lease
granted in respect of mines and minerals in any land are stated in
the lease to be fixed at a reduced amount in consideration of any
advantages such as are mentioned in section 17(3), the amount
payable to the former vendors of the land under the second proviso
to the said section 13(3) shall be twenty-five per cent. of the
rent, purchase money or other net profit which would have been
receivable by the Ministry under the lease if the payments had not
been so fixed, instead of twenty-five per cent. of the net amount
of those payments, and any excess of the amounts payable to the
former vendors by virtue of this subsection over the amounts paid
to the Ministry by the lessee shall be defrayed as expenses of the
Ministry.

(5) Any question arising as to

(a)the entitlement of any person to the percentage mentioned in
subsection (1), or

(b)the amount payable by way of that percentage, or

(c)the existence of good reasons such as are mentioned in subsection
(3), where the Ministry has not accepted a late claim, or

(d)the amounts which would have been receivable by the Ministry
under a mining lease, as mentioned in subsection (4), if the
payments by the lessee under the lease had not been fixed at a
reduced amount under section 17(3),

(6) Where, for the purposes of a determination under subsection (5),
it is necessary for the Lands Tribunal to determine the extent to
which any rent, purchase money or other net profit is attributable
to different parts of any land, subsection (2) of section 32 shall
have effect as it has effect for the purposes of a determination
under subsection (1) of that section.

1903 c.37

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 38

38.(1) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, where
damage is caused, directly or indirectly, either

(a)by working, or doing anything incidental to the working of, mines
and minerals vested in the Ministry, or

(b)by exercising a right of entry or user of land conferred by or
under this Act or the Act of 1959,

(2) Any question arising as to

(a)the entitlement of any person to compensation under this section,
or

(b)the amount payable by way of that compensation,

(3) Compensation under this section in respect of damage to land
shall not be payable to any person from whom any land has, or
ancillary rights over any land have, been acquired by the Ministry
under this Act and to whom any compensation is payable under
section 14 of the Lands Tribunal and Compensation Act (Northern
Ireland) 1964 by the Ministry in respect of injurious affection of
the first-mentioned land.

(4) In assessing compensation under this section in respect of
damage to land regard shall be had to any benefit which the person
entitled to the compensation may derive from any works which have
been or are to be carried out, or any use of land, by the person
causing the damage.

(5) In assessing compensation under this section in respect of
damage to land regard shall also be had to any undertaking given
by the person causing the damage to make alterations or additions
to any works, or to construct additional works, or to vary or
abandon any use of land, or to abandon part of any land acquired
or any ancillary rights, or to grant other lands or easements.

(6) Where for the purpose of assessing the amount of any
compensation payable under this section the value of any land is
required to be determined, that value shall be determined in
accordance with rules (2) to (4) of section 2 of the Acquisition
of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919.

(7) Where the amount of compensation which is payable under this
section has been determined but for some reason it is not possible
for the person who is liable to make the payment to obtain a good
discharge therefor, that person may, or, if the Lands Tribunal so
directs, shall, pay that amount

(a)if it does not exceed [#6,000], into the county court; or

(b)if it exceeds [#6,000], into the High Court.

(8) Money paid into the county court or, as the case may be, the
High Court under subsection (7) shall, subject to county court rules
or rules of court, be dealt with according to the orders of the
court.

(9) This section shall have effect to the exclusion of section 15
of the Lands Tribunal and Compensation Act (Northern Ireland) 1964.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 39
Power of Lands Tribunal to prohibit, restrict or terminate certain
operations.

39.(1) Where, on application made by the owner or occupier of any
land, the Lands Tribunal is satisfied

(a)that operations by the Ministry under section 11, 15 or 25 or
by a licensee under a prospecting licence or a grantee under a
mining lease, mining licence, mining permission or mining facilities
permit are being, or that the applicant has reasonable cause to
believe that they will be, carried out in such a manner as, if
continued, to cause damage to any dwelling-house on the land or to
render any such dwelling-house incapable of being beneficially
occupied or to make the land incapable of being beneficially
occupied or productively used, and

(b)that the applicant is not bound by the terms of any agreement
or order authorising the carrying out of the operations,

(i)satisfactory arrangements are made for the payment of compensation
under section 38 for any damage which may be, or has already been,
caused;

(ii)adequate security for the payment of such compensation is given;

(iii)an agreement is arrived at or, if the circumstances are such
that a mining facilities order can be made, such an order is made
for the acquisition of the dwelling-house or the land or, as the
case may require, of appropriate ancillary rights in respect of the
land;

(iv)an undertaking such as is mentioned in section 38(5) is given
by the Ministry or, as the case may require, the licensee or
grantee.

(2) Where, on application made by the owner or occupier of any
land, the Lands Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant has
reasonable cause to believe that a licensee under a prospecting
licence or a grantee under a mining lease, mining licence, mining
permission or mining facilities permit is carrying out or is about
to carry out operations on the land in contravention of any of the
provisions of this Act or of any conditions of the licence, lease,
permission or permit, the Tribunal may, upon such terms (including
terms as to the payment of compensation under section 38 for damage
which has already been caused or the giving of security therefor)
as it thinks proper, make an award prohibiting, restricting or
terminating such operations on the land.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) an owner
or occupier of land shall be deemed to be bound by the terms of
an agreement or order authorising the carrying out of operations
such as are mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection, if those
operations constitute an exercise of powers in connection with which
compensation is payable under section 14 of the Lands Tribunal and
Compensation Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 in respect of injurious
affection of the land.

(4) In this section any reference to a prospecting licence or a
mining lease includes a reference to such a licence or, as the
case may require, such a lease granted under the Act of 1959.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 40
Restrictions on working minerals required for support.

40.(1) Where, on application made by a person having an estate in
any land who is not entitled to support or sufficient support
(whether vertical or lateral) for any buildings or works erected or
constructed, or intended to be erected or constructed on or below
the surface, the Lands Tribunal is satisfied that it is not
reasonably practicable to obtain a right to such support by private
arrangement, the Tribunal may, upon such terms as it thinks proper,
make an award imposing such prohibitions or restrictions on the
working of minerals in that land and the land adjacent thereto as
it considers necessary to secure sufficient support to the buildings
or works.

(2) The restrictions may be either on the quantity or position of
the minerals to be worked, or on the methods of working or
packing, or otherwise such as may be necessary to secure adequate
support to the buildings or works or to prevent or minimise damage
thereto.

(3) In considering what restrictions, if any, should be imposed
under this section regard shall be had to the value of the
buildings or works or the cost of repairing damage likely to be
caused thereto by subsidence, as compared with the value of the
minerals, or to the importance of the erection or construction or
the preservation of the buildings or works as compared with the
importance, in the public interest, of the working of the minerals.

(4) The terms which may be imposed by an award under this section
include terms as to the payment of compensation by the applicant or
the giving of security therefor.

(5) For the purposes of this section, where any building or work
is a national monument to which section 25 of the Irish Church Act
1869 applies or [a scheduled monument within the meaning of the
Historic Monuments Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 or is a historic
monument which is the subject of a protection order under the said
Act of 1971 or is owned by or vested in, or is in the
guardianship of,] the Ministry of Finance or of a local authority,
the Ministry of Finance or the local authority, as the case may
be, shall be deemed to be a person entitled to make an application
under this section.

(6) This section shall not prejudicially affect any right under the
Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 ... (including that Act as
applied, with or without modifications, by any other transferred
provision) or any other transferred provision (including such a
provision in a local or private Act) of any railway company, local
authority or public body to prohibit, restrict or regulate the
working of minerals for the preservation of support, nor shall it
confer on any such company, authority or body, except as provided
in subsection (5), a right to apply under this section for any
prohibition or restriction on the working of minerals.

Making of claims to the Ministry.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 41

41. The following provisions shall have effect with respect to every
claim for compensation which is payable by the Ministry under this
Act, or for the percentage mentioned in section 37:

(a)the claim shall be in such form and shall be made and verified
in such manner as may be specified by the Ministry;

(b)the claim shall state

(i)the nature of the applicant's interest in the land or the mines
and minerals or the profits with respect to which the claim is
made;

(ii)the description of the land, or the situation, nature and extent
of the mines and minerals, in respect of which his interest exists;

<(iii)all claims or estates to which his interest is subject; and

<(iv)such other particulars as may be specified by the Ministry;

(c)the person making the claim shall, if required so to do by the
Ministry, furnish in writing such other information as is within his
knowledge or can reasonably be procured by him as the Ministry may
require for the consideration of the claim.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 42
Satisfaction of claims.

42.(1) Without prejudice to any award of the Lands Tribunal, where
compensation under section 29 or 35, or the percentage mentioned in
section 37, is payable to any person otherwise than by way of a
lump sum, the Ministry may make payments to that person in respect
of the compensation or percentage at such times or intervals as are
reasonable having regard to the size and nature of the payments
concerned.

(2) The provisions of paragraphs 12 and 14 to 17 of Schedule 2
shall have effect with respect to the satisfaction of claims for
such compensation or percentage as they have effect with respect to
the satisfaction of claims for compensation which is payable under
that Schedule with

(a)the substitution for any reference to the last-mentioned
compensation of a reference to such compensation or, as the case
requires, such percentage as aforesaid;

(b)the substitution for any reference to the compensation fund of a
reference to the Ministry;

(c)in paragraph 16, the substitution for the reference to the date
of the vesting of the land or ancillary rights of a reference to

(i)in the case of compensation payable under section 29, the date
of the expiration of one month after the date of the receipt by
the Ministry of the purchase money, fine, rent, royalties or other
sum giving rise to the profits out of which the compensation is
payable, or

(ii)in the case of compensation payable under section 35, the date
of the commencement of section 1, or

<(iii)in the case of the said percentage, the date of the expiration of one month after the date of the receipt by the Ministry of the rent, purchase money or other net profit out of which that percentage is payable;

(c)and the omission of the words from "or where the compensation is
payable by instalments" to "the instalment falls due".

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 43
Disposal of certain dormant or unclaimed moneys.

43.(1) Where any money received by the Ministry under any
disposition of rights to or in relation to mines and minerals made,
or in consideration of any disposal of minerals worked, by the
Ministry may include sums which are due by the Ministry to any
person

(a)in respect of compensation under section 29; or

(b)under the second proviso to section 13(3) of the Irish Land Act
1903;

(2) Where, on an application to the Lands Tribunal made after the
date on which any moneys were transferred to the Exchequer under
section 19(1) of the Act of 1959 or, as the case may be,
subsection (1), the Tribunal is satisfied that any person claiming
is entitled to any payment out of those moneys, the Tribunal may
order accordingly, and on receipt of such an order the Ministry of
Finance shall issue out of the Consolidated Fund such sums as are
necessary to provide for the payment so ordered, and shall make
such payment.

(3) Where the Ministry of Finance pays any moneys to any person in
pursuance of an order made under subsection (2), that Ministry shall
pay to him interest upon those moneys from the date of their
transfer to the Exchequer under section 19(1) of the Act of 1959
or, as the case may be, subsection (1) until the time of the
payment of the moneys and interest to the person entitled thereto
and shall issue out of the Consolidated Fund such sums as are
necessary to provide for that interest.

(4) The rate of interest payable under subsection (3) shall be such
rate as may be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

(5) In relation to sums such as are mentioned in paragraph (b) of
subsection (1) the reference in that subsection to moneys received
or any disposition made includes a reference to moneys received or
a disposition made before the commencement of this section.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 44
Provisions with respect to land subject to Land Purchase Annuity.

44.(1) This section applies where

(a)any consideration or compensation in respect of the acquisition of
land or ancillary rights is payable under this Act, or compensation
for damage to land is payable under section 38, and

(b)the land in respect of which the consideration or compensation is
payable is subject to an annuity under the Land Purchase Acts which
is payable by the person, or one of the persons, entitled to the
consideration or compensation.

(2) Where the amount of the consideration or compensation is fixed
by agreement or any question with respect to that amount is
referred to the Lands Tribunal,

(a)the parties to the agreement, at least fourteen days before the
payment of the consideration or compensation in pursuance thereof, or

(b)the parties to the reference, at least fourteen days before the
hearing thereof,

(3) Where a notice is served on the Ministry of Finance under
subsection (2),

(a)if that Ministry so requires in connection with an agreement, the
person liable to pay the consideration or compensation shall pay, or

(b)if that Ministry so requests the Lands Tribunal in connection
with a reference to the Tribunal, the Tribunal shall order the
person liable to pay the compensation to pay,

(4) Where any notice required to be served on the Ministry of
Finance under subsection (2) is not so served,

(a)where the amount of consideration or compensation is fixed by
agreement, the payment of the amount so fixed shall not operate as
a good discharge to the person paying that amount of his liability
to pay the consideration or compensation;

(b)where any question with respect to the amount of compensation is
referred to the Lands Tribunal, the Tribunal shall adjourn the
hearing of the reference until the requirements of that subsection
have been complied with.

(5) The payment to the Ministry of Finance, by the person who is
under a liability to pay the consideration or compensation, of any
moneys under subsection (3) shall operate as a discharge of his
liability to the extent of the payment.

Power of Lands Tribunal to state consultative case for Court of
Appeal.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 45

45. Where any proceedings are taken before the Lands Tribunal under
this Act, the Tribunal may, at any stage of the proceedings, state
in the form of a special case for the opinion of the Court of
Appeal any question of law arising in the course of those
proceedings.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 46
Enforcement of awards of the Lands Tribunal.

46. Any award made by the Lands Tribunal under this Act may, by
leave of the High Court, be filed as a judgment in terms of the
award and shall thereupon have the same force and effect as a
judgment or order of the court.

Entry on land.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 47

47.(1) Where the Ministry or any other person intends to enter on
or into any land in the exercise of any right conferred

(a)by or under section 11(1) or section 22(1) or (2), or

(b)by a mining facilities order or a mining facilities permit,

(i)at least three days notice of the intention, where the entry is
for the purpose of any prospecting operations which do not involve
the breaking of ground to a depth of more than one foot;

(ii)at least fourteen days notice of the intention, where the entry
is for the purpose of any prospecting operations which involve the
breaking of ground to a depth of more than one foot;

(iii)at least four weeks notice of the intention in any other case,

(2) In this section "prospecting operations" means

(a)any operations authorised by or under section 11(1), or

(b)any operations proposed to be conducted in the exercise of
ancillary rights acquired under section 23(2) or authorised to be
used by a mining facilities permit granted under section 26(2).

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 48
Offences.

48.(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if, without lawful
authority, he knowingly either works or does anything for the
purpose of working any mines and minerals vested in the Ministry.

(2) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he wilfully
obstructs any other person in the exercise of any right conferred

(a)by or under section 11(1) or section 22(1) or (2), or

(b)by a mining facilities order or a mining facilities permit.

(3) A person who is guilty of an offence by reason of a
contravention of any provision of subsection (1) or (2) shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred
pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or
to both, and where the contravention is repeated or continued after
conviction to a further fine not exceeding ten pounds for every
day, subsequent to the day on which he is first convicted of an
offence under that subsection, during which the contravention is so
repeated or continued.

(4) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) a court
of summary jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction to try the offence
notwithstanding that a question of title is raised.

(5) No proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) or (2) may
be instituted except

(a)by the Ministry, or

(b)by, or with the consent of, the Attorney General.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 49
Regulations.

49.(1) The Ministry may make regulations prescribing

(a)the manner in which applications may be made to the Ministry for
prospecting licences or for grants of mineral rights (whether by way
of sale, mining lease, mining licence or mining permission) or for
mining facilities permits;

(b)the information required in support of any such application;

(c)the fees, if any, to be paid on any such application;

(d)the conditions to be complied with by applicants;

(e)the terms and conditions to be incorporated in any such licence,
lease or permission or on which any such sale may be made;

(f)model clauses which may be incorporated (directly or by reference)
in any such licence, lease or permission;

(g)such incidental or supplementary matters as are necessary or
expedient.

(2) Any regulations prescribing fees under subsection (1)(c) shall be
made with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

(3) The Public Offices Fees Act 1879 shall not apply to any
prescribed fees.

(4) Regulations shall be subject to negative resolution.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 50
Annual statement and register of notices.

50.(1) The Ministry shall cause to be prepared and laid before
Parliament an annual statement containing for the year to which it
relates particulars of all prospecting licences, sales of estates in
mines and minerals, mining leases, mining licences, mining permissions
and mining facilities permits granted by the Ministry in that year.

(2) The Ministry shall prepare a register containing particulars of
all notices published by the Ministry under section 11(3), 20(2),
31(1) or 37(1), or paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 10 of Schedule 2, and
the register

(a)shall be open for inspection by any person at all reasonable
hours, and

(b)with respect to any such notice, shall be maintained by the
Ministry until the expiration of a period of five years from the
last date of publication of that notice.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 51
Account of receipts and expenditure under Act.

51.(1) The Ministry shall, in respect of the period beginning with
the commencement of section 1 and ending on 31st March 1971 and in
respect of each financial year thereafter, prepare an account, in
such form and in such manner as the Ministry of Finance may
direct, of the moneys received and expended by the Ministry under
this Act and the Act of 1959 during that period or, as the case
may be, that financial year.

(2) The Ministry shall transmit to the Comptroller and
Auditor-General a copy of every account prepared under subsection
(1), and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall examine and
certify every such account and shall lay copies thereof, together
with his report thereon, before both Houses of Parliament.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 52
Financial provisions.

52. Any expenses of the Ministry under this Act may be defrayed
out of moneys provided by Parliament, or, to the extent that the
Ministry of Finance so directs, by means of sums charged on or
issued out of the Consolidated Fund.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 53
Power of educational institutions to facilitate the working of mines
and minerals.

53.(1) The trustees or governing body of any educational institution
shall have power to do anything necessary or expedient for
facilitating the working of mines and minerals in any land which is
the property of that institution, if apart from the provisions of
this section they would not have power to do so.

(2) Without prejudice to section 54, where an educational institution
receives or has received any grant or other sum from the Ministry
of Education in connection with any land, the power conferred by
subsection (1) shall not be exercised in relation to that land
otherwise than with the written consent of that Ministry.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 54
Repayment of grants, etc., in certain cases.

54.(1) Where any grant or other sum has been paid by a government
department to any local authority, public body or educational
institution in connection with

(a)land which or any part of which is, or ancillary rights over
which or any part of which are, acquired under section 23; or

(b)land which is or forms part of land which has suffered damage
for which compensation is recoverable under section 38; or

(c)land which is damaged by the working of mines and minerals
(other than scheduled substances) therein which are the property of
any such institution;

(2) The amount determined to be payable under subsection (1) shall
not exceed the amount by which the consideration or compensation
payable in respect of the land or ancillary rights or the
compensation recoverable for the damage or, as the case may be, the
consideration payable to the institution in contemplation of the
damage exceeds the consideration or compensation, if any, which would
have been so payable or recoverable if the amount of the grant or
other sum had not been expended in connection with acquiring or
laying out the land or erecting buildings or executing works
thereon; and where the consideration or compensation is payable
otherwise than in the form of a lump sum, the amount for the time
being recoverable from any person by virtue of a determination under
subsection (1) shall not exceed the amount for the time being
receivable by that person on account of the consideration or
compensation.

(3) Any question arising as to the amount secondly mentioned in
subsection (2) shall, in default of agreement, be referred to and
determined by the Lands Tribunal.

(4) Any amount which is payable to a government department under
subsection (1) shall be recoverable summarily by that department as
a debt.

(5) Without prejudice to subsection (4), on the application of a
government department to whom any amount is payable by virtue of
subsection (1), the Ministry before paying any consideration or
compensation for land or ancillary rights, or compensation under
section 38, may deduct, or the Lands Tribunal on awarding any such
compensation may order the deduction, therefrom of that amount, and
the payment to that department of that amount shall operate as a
discharge of the Ministry's liability or, as the case may be, the
compensation fund to the extent of the payment.

(6) Without prejudice to subsection (4) or (5), any amount which is
payable to a government department under subsection (1) may be
recovered by deduction from any grant or other sum payable out of
moneys provided by Parliament or by any government department to the
person from whom the amount is due, and that grant or other sum
shall be abated accordingly.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 55
Meaning of ""stone, gravel, sand or clay'' in s.13(3) of the Irish
Land Act 1903.

55.(1) Subject to subsection (2), the reference in paragraph (c) of
the first proviso to section 13(3) of the Irish Land Act 1903 to
any stone, gravel, sand or clay shall be construed as referring
only to the scheduled substances, and accordingly where immediately
before the commencement of this section any rights to or in
relation to scheduled substances of any description or mines of such
substances in any land (other than land in the ownership of the
Ministry) were vested in the Ministry by virtue of section 6 of,
and Schedule 1 to, the Act of 1959, those rights shall, by virtue
of this subsection and without further assurance, vest in the
persons owning that land for the like estates as those persons may
at the commencement of this section have in that land.

(2) Except as is provided in subsection (3), nothing in subsection
(1) shall affect any disposition of rights to or in relation to
scheduled substances of any description, or mines of such substances,
in any land where the disposition was made by the Irish Land
Commission, the Land Purchase Commission, Northern Ireland, the
Ministry of Finance or the Ministry before the commencement of this
section.

(3) Where a disposition to which subsection (2) applies was in
force in relation to scheduled substances of any description in any
land immediately before the commencement of this section and
continues in force thereafter, it shall from that commencement,
subject to subsection (4), have effect as if it had been made by
the persons who are the owners of the land, and accordingly,

(a)subsection (1) to the extent that it would operate, but for the
provisions of subsection (2), to vest any rights to or in relation
to substances of that description, or mines of such substances, in
any person shall so operate subject to the terms and conditions of
the disposition and the provisions of subsection (4);

(b)except for the purposes of subsection (4), the rights or
obligations of the Ministry under or in consequence of the
disposition shall be enforceable by or against the persons owning
the land according to their respective estates and not by or
against the Ministry;

(c)subject to paragraph (b), the rights or obligations of any other
party to the disposition shall continue to be enforceable by or
against that party;

(i)to enforce any rights under the disposition until they have
produced to the other party evidence of their title, or

(ii)to receive any rent, royalties or other sums under the
disposition except on demand.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3), the person entitled
to the benefit of a disposition to which that subsection applies
shall continue to pay to the Ministry an amount equal to
twenty-five per cent. of any rent, royalties or other sums which
would have been so payable under the disposition if this section
had not been passed, and

(a)the payment of that amount in accordance with this subsection
shall discharge that person from his obligation, by virtue of
subsection (3), to pay to any other person so much of such rent,
royalties or other sums as is equivalent to that amount;

(b)03the payment of that amount under paragraph (b) shall be in
lieu of and shall operate to discharge all liability of the
Ministry on foot of the percentage required by the second proviso
to section 13(3) of the Irish Land Act 1903 to be paid to those
former vendors.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 56
Definitions of ""minerals'', ""mine'' and ""ancillary rights''.

56.(1) In this Act "minerals" includes all mineral bearing and other
substances (not being the soil at the surface of the ground and
its vegetation or peat or water) naturally occurring in land,
whether obtainable by underground or by surface working; but does
not include petroleum, except that

(a)... in sections 53, 54 ... and 60 [any reference to minerals],
includes a reference to petroleum (and, accordingly, any corresponding
reference to mines includes a reference to petroleum wells), and

Para.(b) rep. by 1970 c.18 (NI) s.97 sch.14

(c)in paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 any reference to mineral prospecting
or development work includes a reference to petroleum prospecting or
development work.

(2) In this Act "mine" means an excavation or system of
excavations, whether underground or on the surface, made for the
purpose of, or in connection with, the getting of minerals (whether
in their natural state or in solution or suspension) or products of
minerals, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
provisions of this subsection includes any cubic space underground
formerly occupied by minerals.

(3) In this Act "ancillary rights" means any facilities, rights or
privileges required in connection with the working of mines and
minerals to enable them to be conveniently and properly worked,
including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
provisions of this subsection, the following rights, that is to say,

(a)a right to let down the surface, including a right to let down
superincumbent or adjacent strata up to and including the surface;

(b)a right to remove, temporarily or permanently, superincumbent or
adjacent strata and surface for the purposes of open cast mining;

(c)a right of air-way, shaft-way, or surface or underground
way-leave, or other right for the purposes of access to or
conveyance of minerals or machinery or the ventilation or drainage
or working of mines;

(d)a right

(i)to construct, operate and maintain roads and railways for the
conveyance of minerals from any mine to any existing road or
railway system, or

(ii)to construct, operate and maintain pipe-lines for the conveyance
of minerals (including minerals held in solution or suspension) from
any mine to any place,

(d)and for any such purpose to use and occupy land and to exercise
any right in or over land or water or in or over any highway;

(e)a right to use and occupy the surface of land for

(i)the storage of fuel for the purposes of, or for the storage of
minerals gotten from, any mine,

(ii)the erection of crushing and dressing mills, washeries, coke
ovens, railways, aerial rope ways, aerial tramways, or by-product or
other works, or

<(iii)the erection of offices or dwellings for persons employed in connection with the working of minerals or with any such works as aforesaid;

(f)a right to a supply of water, stone or other substances in
connection with the working of mines and minerals;

(g)a right to dispose in a particular manner of water or other
liquid matter, or matter which flows when wet, obtained from mines
or any by-product works;

(h)a right to dispose in a particular manner of waste products
obtained in connection with the working of minerals;

(i)a right to dam or divert any river or watercourse, including an
artificial watercourse;

(j)a right to divert sewers, watermains and pipes;

(k)a right to divert a railway, highway or private way, and to
substitute for an existing bridge another bridge on a different
site;

(l)a right to demolish buildings which impede the proper working of
any minerals;

<(m)a right to use land for the creation, preservation or restoration of natural amenity.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 57
General interpretation provisions.

57.(1) In this Act

"acquired mining facility" has the meaning assigned to it by section
23(3);

"the Act of 1959" has the meaning assigned to it by section 3;

Definition rep. by 1971 c.17 (NI) s.30 sch.4

"the compensation fund" has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph
4(2) of Schedule 2;

"the first appointed day" means such day as the Minister may by
order appoint for the coming into operation of the provisions to
which section 63(3) applies;

"former vendors", in relation to any land, means the persons for
the time being entitled under the second proviso to section 13(3)
of the Irish Land Act 1903 to receive in respect of minerals in
that land the percentage provided for in that proviso;

"government department" means a department of the Government of
Northern Ireland and in sections 11(2), 22(3), 24(5) and 60 also
includes a department of the Government of the United Kingdom;

["historic monument" has the same meaning as in the Historic
Monuments Act (Northern Ireland) 1971;]

"Lands Tribunal" means the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland;

"local authority" means the council of a county or county borough
or county district;

"mining facilities order" has the meaning assigned to it by section
23(3);

"mining facilities permit" has the meaning assigned to it by section
26(3);

"mining lease" has the meaning assigned to it by section 17(1);

"mining licence" has the meaning assigned to it by section 18;

"mining permission" has the meaning assigned to it by section 19(1);

"notice" means notice in writing;

"the Minister" means the Minister of Commerce;

"the Ministry" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1;

"petroleum" has the same meaning as in the Petroleum (Production)
Act (Northern Ireland) 1964;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations;

"prospecting licence" has the meaning assigned to it by section
11(1)(b);

"public body" means any public authority, board, commissioners or
public body of any kind constituted by or under any transferred
provision, whether of a general or a special nature;

"regulations" means regulations made by the Ministry under this Act;

"rent" includes any periodical payment in the nature of rent;

"scheduled substances" has the meaning assigned to it by section 2;

"searching for", in relation to any mines and minerals, includes
ascertaining the character, extent or value of those mines and
minerals;

"the second appointed day" means such day as the Minister may by
order appoint for the coming into operation of the provisions to
which section 63(4) applies; and, without prejudice to section 17(5)
of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, different days may
be so appointed for the purposes of this Act, except Schedule 3,
and for the purposes of the Petroleum Production Act (Northern
Ireland) 1964 as amended by Schedule 3;

"transferred provision" has the meaning assigned to it by section
1(g) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;

"working", in relation to any mines and minerals, (without prejudice
to subsection (3)) includes searching for those mines and minerals,
and in relation to any minerals includes, digging, mining, getting,
raising, taking, carrying away, treating and converting those
minerals.

(2) In this Act

(a)any reference to minerals in any land includes a reference to
minerals on or under the land;

(b)any reference to mines and minerals or an estate in mines and
minerals includes a reference to mines alone or an estate in mines
alone, or, as the circumstances may require, to minerals alone or
an estate in minerals alone;

(c)any reference to mines and minerals vested in the Ministry
(except a reference to mines and minerals so vested by virtue of
section 1(1)) includes a reference to minerals the exclusive right
of mining and taking and digging and searching for which is vested
in the Ministry by virtue of any transferred provision, and to
mines of such minerals;

(d)subject to section 35(3) any reference to mines and minerals
vested in the Ministry by virtue of section 1(1), or of this Act,
includes a reference to any mines and minerals with respect to
which section 1(1) is deemed to have had effect by virtue of
section 9(1);

(e)any reference to the land to which a mining facilities order or
proposed order relates includes a reference to

(i)any land an estate in which is or is proposed to be acquired
by such an order, and

(ii)any land over which ancillary rights are or are proposed to be
so acquired.

(3) In relation to any cubic space underground formerly occupied by
minerals, references in this Act to working mines include references
to utilising that space for the storage of any substance without
the intention to store permanently; and, in relation to such a
space, in section 56(3)

(a)any reference to minerals includes a reference to such a
substance and any reference to working minerals includes a reference
to introducing such a substance into, storing it in or removing it
from that space;

(b)in paragraph (d) the references to the construction, operation and
maintaining of roads, railways or pipelines for the conveyance of
minerals from any mine include references to such construction,
operation or maintaining for the conveyance of any such substance to
or from that space; and

(c)in paragraph (e)(i) the reference to the storage of minerals
gotten from any mine includes a reference to the storage of any
such substance before its introduction into, or after its removal
from, that space.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 58
Savings.

58.(1) Except as is expressly provided in this Act, nothing in this
Act shall affect the operation of the Petroleum (Production) Act
(Northern Ireland) 1964.

(2) Any power to do anything which is conferred by a lease,
licence, permission or permit granted under this Act

(a)shall be subject to any transferred provision to the extent that
it prohibits, and

(b)shall not be exercised otherwise than in accordance with any
transferred provision which restricts, regulates or otherwise applies
to,

(3) Except where a dwelling-house or its curtilage or some part
thereof is acquired under this Act, nothing in this Act shall
authorise any person to enter any dwelling-house or its curtilage
without the consent of the owner or occupier of that dwelling-house.

Subs.(4) spent

S.59 rep. by 1970 c.18 (NI) s.97 sch.14

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 60
Application of Planning Orders to certain mining development on Crown
property.

60. For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that the
Planning [(Northern Ireland) Orders 1972 and 1978] apply to any
development of land which is or is proposed to be carried out by
any person other than a government department in connection with
working mines and minerals notwithstanding that the land is owned or
occupied by a government department.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 61
Act to bind Crown.

61. Except as otherwise expressly stated in this Act, this Act
shall be binding on the Crown to the full extent authorised or
permitted by the constitutional laws of Northern Ireland.

S.62(1), with Schedule 3, effects amendments; subs.(2), with Schedule
4, effects repeals

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1969 - SECT 63
Short title and commencement.

63.(1) This Act may be cited as the Mineral Development Act
(Northern Ireland) 1969.

(2) The following provisions of this Act, that is to say,

(a)the provisions of sections 1 to 10 and Schedule 1; sections 16
to 22 so far as applicable for the purposes of any disposition to
which paragraph (b) or (d) of section 21(1) applies; sections 35,
36, 38, 39, 45 to 49, and 52 to 55; section 56(1), except
paragraph (c) thereof; sections 56(2) and 58 to 61; section 62(1)
so far as applicable to paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 3, and
those paragraphs; section 62(2) and Schedule 4 to the extent that
they repeal section 8 of the Act of 1959; and this section, and

(b)so much of section 57 as is applicable for the interpretation of
those provisions,

(3) The remaining provisions of this Act, except those mentioned in
subsection (4), shall come into operation on the first appointed
day.

(4) The provisions of this Act relating to the compulsory
acquisition of land or ancillary rights shall come into operation on
the second appointed day.

(5) The provisions mentioned in subsection (4) do not include any
provision of Schedule 2 as applied and modified by section 42 or
by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 3.

(6) An order appointing the second appointed day shall not be made
unless a draft thereof has been approved by resolution of each
House of Parliament.

1. Conglomerate; grit (or gritstone), sandstone, greywacke, siltstone,
mudstone, shale (excluding alum shale and oil shale), slate,
limestone (including chalk), dolomite; schist (all varieties except
graphite schist), gneiss; granite and porphyry (all varieties except
decomposed granite in the form of clay); rhyolite (except decomposed
rhyolite in the form of clay); aplite, syenite (and related rocks),
basalt (and related rocks), picrite (and related rocks).

2. Any superficial deposit of gravel or sand, whether of
fluvioglacial, river or marine origin.

3. All of the following of Quaternary Age, namely, boulder clay,
laminated clay, alluvial clay and silt.

4. All agricultural soil.

1.(1) The Ministry, where it proposes to acquire any land or any
ancillary rights by means of a mining facilities order, shall give
public notice of its intention to do so.

(2) A notice under sub-paragraph (1)

(a)shall state clearly the nature of the proposal and shall specify
the land which is proposed to be the subject of the acquisition
or, as the case may be, the ancillary rights;

(b)shall state the time (not being less than twenty-one days from
the last publication of the notice) within which objections to the
proposal may be presented to the Ministry;

(c)shall name a place or places (including at least one place in
the locality where the land is situated) where maps identifying the
land are available for inspection at all reasonable hours; and

(d)shall be published in two successive weeks in the Belfast Gazette
and in one or more than one newspaper circulating in the locality
in which the land is situated;

(i)where the notice is served on the Ministry of Finance in respect
of land subject to an annuity under the Land Purchase Acts, a
recently certified copy of the relevant Land Registry map showing in
distinct colour the land to which it relates; or

(ii)where the notice is served on any other person, a map or plan
sufficient to enable the person so served to identify the land
concerned.

(3) Where the mining facilities order is proposed to contain any
provisions with respect to the damming or diverting of any river or
watercourse or the abstraction of water from, or the discharge of
water on to any land, or the deposit of spoil on any land, which
appear to the Ministry to affect any water or fishery authority,
that authority shall, for the purposes of this paragraph and
paragraph 2, be deemed to be a person interested in the land.

(4) In this paragraph

"water authority" means any local authority supplying water under the
Water Supplies and Sewerage Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 or any
statutory water undertaking within the meaning of that Act;

"fishery authority" in relation to land any part of which is
situated in the Londonderry Area (as defined by the Foyle Fisheries
Act (Northern Ireland) 1952) means the Foyle Fisheries Commission and
in relation to land any part of which is situated outside that
Area means, or, as the case requires, also includes, the Fisheries
Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland.

2.(1) On the expiration of one month after the last publication of
the notice mentioned in paragraph 1, the Ministry, after considering

(a)all representations which have been presented to the Ministry by
any interested party; and

(b)where the mining facilities order is proposed to be made in
consequence of an application under section 26(5), any evidence
adduced as to the impracticability of the land or ancillary rights
being acquired otherwise than compulsorily for any of the reasons
mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 14(3); and

(c)any other relevant business;

(i)make the mining facilities order, which may contain any
modifications that the Ministry thinks proper, vesting in the
Ministry all or any part of the land or ancillary rights; or

(ii)determine not to make the order.

(2) If a local inquiry is held as aforesaid, the Ministry and any
person interested in the land, and such other persons as the person
holding the inquiry thinks fit in his discretion to allow, shall be
permitted to appear, in person or by a representative, and to be
heard at the inquiry, and, before making the order, the Ministry
shall consider the report of the person who held the inquiry.

(3) Where the Ministry determines not to make a mining facilities
order, it shall publish notice of the determination in the Belfast
Gazette and in the newspapers in which the notice of the proposal
to make the order appeared.

(4) A mining facilities order shall contain such provisions as the
Ministry thinks necessary or expedient for carrying it into effect.

3.(1) The following provisions of this paragraph shall have effect
with respect to the validity of a mining facilities order and the
date on which such an order is to come into operation, that is to
say:

(a)as soon as may be after a mining facilities order has been
made, the Ministry shall publish a notice in the Belfast Gazette
and in the newspapers in which notice of the proposal to make the
order appeared, stating that the mining facilities order has been
made, indicating the modifications, if any, that have been made in
the order, inviting claims for compensation from persons entitled
thereto within a period of one year from the date of publication
of that notice and naming a place where a copy of the order and
of any map or plan referred to therein may be seen at all
reasonable hours, and shall serve a like notice on every person who
appears to the Ministry to have an interest in the land to which
the order relates;

(b)if any person aggrieved by a mining facilities order desires to
question its validity on the ground that it is not within the
powers conferred on the Ministry by this Act or that the procedure
specified in this Schedule has not been complied with, he may,
within one month after the publication of the notice of the making
of the mining facilities order, make an application for the purpose
to the High Court in accordance with rules of court, and where any
such application is duly made the court

(i)may by interim order suspend the operation of the mining
facilities order, either generally or in so far as it affects any
property of the applicant, until the final determination of the
proceedings; and

(ii)if satisfied upon the hearing of the application that the mining
facilities order is not within the powers conferred by this Act, or
that the interests of the applicant have been substantially
prejudiced by any requirement of this Schedule not having been
complied with, may quash the mining facilities order either generally
or in so far as it affects any property of the applicant;

(c)subject to head (b), a mining facilities order or the making of
such an order shall not be questioned in any legal proceedings
whatsoever, and a mining facilities order shall become operative

(i)at the expiration of a period of one month from the date on
which the notice of the making thereof is published in accordance
with the provisions of head (a); or

(ii)on the date of the dismissal by the High Court of any
application made with respect to the order under head (b);

(c)whichever is the later;

(d)as soon as may be after a mining facilities order has become
operative the Ministry shall serve on every person appearing to the
Ministry to have an interest in the land to which the mining
facilities order relates either a copy of the order or a notice
stating that the order has become operative and naming a place
where a copy of the order and of any map or plan referred to
therein may be seen at all reasonable hours and may be obtained
free of charge upon written request made by or on behalf of any
person having an interest in the land.

(2) Where the Ministry is satisfied that good reasons exist for the
failure of any person to submit a claim for compensation within the
period mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a), his claim may be accepted
after the expiration of that period.

4.(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), a mining facilities order shall
operate, without further assurance "to vest in the Ministry" as from
the date on which the order becomes operative (in this Schedule
referred to as "the date of vesting"), for such period, if any, as
may be mentioned in the order, such estate in, to or over the
land to which it relates as is therein specified, discharged from
all claims or estates whatsoever (except as is specified in the
order), or (if the case so requires) such ancillary rights as the
order specifies, discharged from all such claims or estates as
aforesaid.

(2) To the extent to which compensation may be payable in
accordance with the provisions of this Schedule and is not paid out
of any sum such as is mentioned in section 27(b)(ii), as from the
date of vesting the rights and claims of all persons in respect of
any land acquired by the mining facilities order or in respect of
the acquisition of ancillary rights over any land to which the
order relates shall be transferred and attached to the Consolidated
Fund, and shall be discharged by payments made by the Ministry; and
in this Act the expression "compensation fund" means the Consolidated
Fund.

(3) Where a mining facilities order relates to land the ownership
of which is registered under the Local Registration of Title
(Ireland) Act 1891, the Ministry, before lodging the order with the
registering authority under that Act, shall endorse upon the order
the date on which it would have become operative were it not for
the provisions of this sub-paragraph, and in relation to such land
the date of vesting shall, notwithstanding anything in sub-paragraph
(1), be the date on which the order is so lodged and that
sub-paragraph shall have effect accordingly.

5. A mining facilities order, or the title created by such an
order (if it relates to land the ownership of which is registered
as aforesaid), shall forthwith upon lodgment of the order, be
registered in the proper office for the registration of deeds or
titles, as the case requires.

6. Where a mining facilities order relates to any land forming part
of a holding which is subject to the future payment of an annuity
under the Land Purchase Acts, it shall not be necessary for any
consent or authority for the sub-division of the holding to be
given under any provision of those Acts, other than the consent of
the Ministry of Finance to any apportionment of the annuity.

7. Subject to the provisions of section 47, on and after the date
of vesting the Ministry or any person authorised by the Ministry
may enter upon and use the land, or exercise the ancillary rights,
to which the mining facilities order relates.

8.(1) Section 92 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 shall
not have effect in relation to any acquisition of land by means of
a mining facilities order.

(2) Where a mining facilities order applies to part only of a
house, building or factory, a person having an estate in the whole
thereof may, within six weeks after the date on which the order
becomes operative, serve a notice on the Ministry, requiring the
Ministry to acquire the remainder thereof.

(3) Where a notice is served on the Ministry under sub-paragraph
(2) the Ministry shall acquire the remainder of the house, building
or factory unless the Lands Tribunal determines that the acquisition
of the part thereof acquired by means of the mining facilities
order has not caused material detriment to the house, building or
factory.

(4) Where the Ministry acquires the remainder of a house, building
or factory in pursuance of sub-paragraph (3), any question as to
the amount payable in respect thereof shall be determined as if
that remainder had been acquired by means of a mining facilities
order.

9.(1) As soon as a mining facilities order has become operative,
any question of disputed compensation arising between the Ministry
and any person who has an estate in any land to which the order
relates or would have such an estate if the order had not become
operative shall be referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal.

(2) Where the person entitled to compensation under this Schedule is
not known or cannot be found or neglects or refuses to produce his
title or to claim the compensation, or where a person claiming
compensation is not absolutely entitled to the compensation or is
under any disability, the Ministry may refer to the Lands Tribunal
any question in connection with the compensation and that question
shall be deemed to be a question of disputed compensation for the
purposes of this Schedule.

(3) Where a mining facilities order relates to lands forming part
of a holding which is subject to the payment of an annuity under
the Land Purchase Acts, and the Ministry of Finance notifies the
Ministry of its intention to bring before the Lands Tribunal any
question with respect to the apportionment or redemption of the
annuity, that question shall be deemed to be a dispute between the
Ministry of Finance and any person claiming compensation in relation
to the lands and the provisions of this Schedule shall apply as
they apply to a question of disputed compensation.

(4) Any question arising as to the existence of good reasons such
as are mentioned in paragraph 3(2), where the Ministry has not
accepted a late claim, shall also, in default of agreement, be
referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal.

10. When any question of disputed compensation arises, the Ministry
shall as soon as practicable thereafter cause to be made out such
maps and schedules as may be prescribed of any lands to which the
mining facilities order relates and of any other lands held
therewith which, it is claimed, may be injuriously affected by the
exercise of powers conferred on the Ministry by, or on any holder
of a mining facilities permit under, this Act (in this Schedule
referred to as "the scheduled lands"), together with the names, so
far as they can be reasonably ascertained, of all persons who
immediately prior to the making of the order were interested in the
lands as owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees, or
occupiers, and the Ministry shall deliver to the appropriate officer
of the Lands Tribunal one copy of each of the maps and schedules
certified by the Ministry as correct and shall publish once in each
of three successive weeks in one or more than one newspaper
circulating in the locality in which the lands are situated a
notice stating that such documents have been delivered and the times
and place at which copies of them may be inspected by any person
desiring to inspect them.

11.(1) The Lands Tribunal shall have the same power of apportioning
any rent-service, rent-charge, chief or other rent, payment or
incumbrance as two justices have under the Lands Clauses
Consolidation Act 1845.

(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph 14, the amount of
compensation to be paid in pursuance of section 124 of the Lands
Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 in respect of any estate in any of
the scheduled lands which the Ministry has through mistake or
inadvertence failed or omitted duly to make compensation for, shall
be awarded by the Lands Tribunal and paid in like manner, as
nearly as may be, as the same would have been awarded and paid if
the claim of such estate had been delivered to the Lands Tribunal
before the day fixed for the delivery of statements of claim.

(3) Section 14(1) of the Lands Tribunal and Compensation Act
(Northern Ireland) 1964, in its application for the purpose of
estimating the compensation to be paid under this Schedule in
respect of the compulsory acquisition of land or ancillary rights,
shall have effect as if after the words "powers conferred on the
acquiring authority by" there were inserted the words ", or on any
other person by that authority under,".

(4) In determining the amount of any disputed compensation, the
Lands Tribunal shall have regard to the extent to which any
remaining and contiguous lands, belonging to the same proprietor, may
be benefited by any proposed work or any proposed use of land for
which the land, or any ancillary right, to which the mining
facilities order relates is acquired by the Ministry.

(5) In determining the amount of any disputed compensation, the
Lands Tribunal shall not award any sum of money for or in respect
of any improvement or alteration made, or building erected, after
the date of the giving by the Ministry of notice of its intention
to acquire the land or ancillary rights compulsorily if, in the
opinion of the Lands Tribunal, the improvement, alteration, or
building in respect of which the claim is made was made or erected
with a view to obtaining or increasing compensation; nor, in respect
of any estate created after the said date in any land to which
the order relates, shall any sum or money be awarded so as to
increase the total amount of compensation which would otherwise have
been required to be paid in respect of the acquisition of the land
or any ancillary rights in relation thereto.

12.(1) The Ministry, on paying to any person any compensation
(whether the amount thereof has been settled by agreement or
determined by the Lands Tribunal), shall obtain from that person a
receipt in such form as may be specified by the Ministry, which
shall be prepared by and executed at the cost of the Ministry; and

(a)where the compensation is payable by way of a lump sum, or

(b)where the compensation is payable by instalments and the payment
being made is the final instalment thereof,

(2) The Ministry shall pay the costs reasonably incurred by any
person claiming compensation, to whom compensation is found due, of
furnishing any statement, abstract or other evidence of title
required by the Ministry to be furnished by him.

13.(1) Where the compensation payable (whether the amount thereof has
been settled by agreement or determined by the Lands Tribunal) to
any person does not exceed the sum of one hundred pounds, and the
claimant makes a statutory declaration in such form as may be
specified by the Ministry stating whether he claims as absolute or
as limited owner, and gives prima facie evidence which satisfies the
Ministry that for not less than six years immediately preceding he,
or his immediate predecessor in title, has been personally or by an
agent in receipt of the rents or profits, or in actual occupation,
of the land in relation to which compensation is payable, the
Ministry may pay to the person claiming as absolute owner the
compensation payable for the interest in respect of which he claims,
and, where a person claims as limited owner of any interest, the
Ministry may pay the compensation payable for that interest to the
trustees of the settlement under which the limited owner claims.

(2) Where any compensation not exceeding the sum of one hundred
pounds is payable in respect of an estate which is subject to any
mortgage or charge (not being a charge consisting of an annuity
under the Land Purchase Acts), the compensation may be paid to the
person entitled to the mortgage or charge, or, if there is more
than one such mortgage or charge, then the person entitled to the
mortgage or charge which is first in priority, and the amount so
paid shall be received in reduction of the principal sum for the
time being owing in respect of the mortgage or charge,
notwithstanding any direction, proviso or covenant to the contrary
contained in any instrument; and where the compensation is paid to
a mortgagee or chargeant, the receipt given by the mortgagee or
chargeant shall release the compensation fund from all claims by him
and any subsequent mortgagee or chargeant, and also from all claims
by the person creating the mortgage or charge and all persons
claiming through or under that person.

(3) A memorandum of the amount paid under sub-paragraph (2) shall,
when practicable, be endorsed on the instrument creating the mortgage
or charge, and shall be signed by the person receiving the
compensation, and a copy of the memorandum shall be furnished by
the Ministry at its expense to all persons appearing to the
Ministry to be entitled to any estate in the land subject to the
mortgage or charge.

14. Any person claiming to be entitled to any money paid to
another person pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule
otherwise than in accordance with an award of the Lands Tribunal
may, within six years after the payment has been made, apply for
relief to the Lands Tribunal; and the Tribunal may either dismiss
the application or make an award against the Ministry for the
amount found due in respect of the claim, and any sum so awarded
shall be a debt recoverable summarily by the Ministry from the
person to whom the money was paid by it, arising at the date of
the award.

15.(1) Where the amount of compensation which is payable in respect
of any land to which a mining facilities order relates has been
determined but for some reason it is not possible for the Ministry
to obtain a good discharge therefor,

(a)if the total amount of the compensation, or, where the
compensation is payable by instalments, the first instalment thereof,
is or exceeds two hundred pounds but does not exceed one thousand
pounds, the Ministry shall pay the money into the county court;

(b)if the total amount of the compensation or, where the
compensation is payable by instalments, the first instalment thereof,
exceeds one thousand pounds, the Ministry shall pay the money into
the High Court;

(c)if the compensation is payable by instalments and the amount of
the first instalment is less than two hundred pounds, the provisions
of head (a) shall apply to that and any subsequent instalments when
the amount of those instalments aggregates two hundred pounds;

(2) Money paid into the county court or, as the case may be, the
High Court under sub-paragraph (1) shall, subject to county court
rules or rules of court, be dealt with according to the orders of
the court.

(3) The payment of the compensation in the manner provided by
sub-paragraph (1) shall operate to discharge the compensation fund
from all claims and interests in respect of which the compensation
is payable.

16.(1) The Ministry shall pay interest upon the compensation money
from the date of the vesting of the land or ancillary rights in
respect of which, or in consequence of the acquisition of which,
the compensation is payable, or, where the compensation is payable
by instalments, upon each instalment from the expiration of one
month after the date when the instalment falls due, until the time
of the payment of the money and interest to the party entitled
thereto, or, where such compensation is paid into court, then until
the sum with such interest is paid into court accordingly.

(2) The rate of interest payable under this paragraph shall be such
rate as may be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

17. In this Schedule "instalment" includes any rent or other
periodical payment.

Schedule 3Amendments. Schedule 4Repeals


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