I.—4a,

18

of assistance required. Should mining operations have been previously carried on in the ground proposed to be prospected at deep levels, the applicant shall also state (c) the amount of money already expended on such operations; (/) the character and value of the machinery already erected on the ground ; and (g) the quantity and value of the gold extracted from the mine up to the date of application. (6.) Before any application is granted the applicant must satisfy the Minister that the applicant's proportion of the total amount proposed to be expended is available; and upon being so satisfied the Minister shall, if he deem it advisable, obtain a joint report of two or more qualified officers of the public service as to the probability of the operations proving successful, and that the proposed site is in the best locality for testing the deep levels in the district. (7.) The Minister may grant assistance not exceeding one-half the total estimated cost of the proposed operations, or he may decline to grant any assistance. (8.) Progress payments on account of assistance will be made from time to time as the work proceeds, on the certificate of an Inspector of Mines. Use of Diamond Drills. 101. In further aid of prospecting, the Minister may lend diamond drills for use for boring operations, and for that purpose the following provisions shall apply : — (1.) Every application for the use of a diamond drill and its appliances shall be made in writing to the Minister, showing for what purpose the same are required, and shall contain an undertaking on the part of the applicants, to the satisfaction of the Minister, to make good all damage to the drill and appliances, and all losses of diamonds, to keep the drill and appliances in good order and condition, and to return them to the Mines Department in a perfect state of repair whenever required by the Minister so to do. (2.) If the application is approved by the Minister, the drill and appliances shall be handed over to the applicants, who shall undertake the removal thereof, and also the careful supervision of the boring operations. (3.) A diamond drill shall not be worked except under the direct charge and supervision of a competent foreman holding an engine-driver's certificate. (4.) Such foreman shall be paid by the applicants, but shall be approved by and be under the control of the Minister, who may remove or dismiss him if in the Minister's opinion he works the drill or appliances in an improper manner, or is guilty of any misconduct in the performance of his duties, or his services are no longer required. (5.) The applicants shall defray the cost of all necessary renewals and repairs, and of the working and removal of the drill and appliances. (6.) The Minister may allow the use of the drill and appliances free of rent, charges, &c, and may subsidise the persons employing the same in connection with prospecting for gold at deep levels to the extent of one-half the necessary expenses of renewals, repairs, and working, so long as the drill is employed in prospecting operations and not used for working a mine at a profit; but the cost of all necessary tubing shall be borne entirely by the persons using the drill. (7.) The amount of subsidy shall be based on approved vouchers of expenditure, and any claims for such expenditure may be amended or may be rejected if they appear to the Minister to be excessive or unreasonable. (8.) The payment of subsidy up to the amount of £100 shall be deferred and the money be retained by the Minister until the drill and appliances are returned to the Mines Department, and any portion of the amount so retained shall, on the order of the Minister, be applied in making good any damage to or deficiency in the drill and appliances, and in defraying any expense incurred by the department through any breaches of the conditions on the part of the persons using the drill. (9.) The drill and appliances shall at all times be subject to the inspection and supervision of an Inspector of Mines, or any other qualified person the Minister may appoint; and boring operations shall be suspended or absolutely discontinued, and the drill and appliances shall be removed from the control of the persons using the same, at any time on the order of the Minister. Subsidies for Water-races and Storage Bcservoirs. 102. Assistance by way of subsidy may be granted by the Minister towards the construction of water-races or storage reservoirs, and for that purpose the following provisions shall apply :— (1.) Every application for assistance towards the construction of a water-race or storage reservoir shall be made to the Minister in writing, and shall be accompanied with a plan of the proposed work and an estimate of its cost. (2.) The application shall also be accompanied with a statement showing the source of supply from which it is proposed to take the water, the area and estimated depth of proved, auriferous ground that the proposed work would command, the number of miners actually engaged in carrying on mining operations within such area, and the extra number of miners that could be profitably employed if the proposed works were constructed. (3.) On receipt of such application, plans, and statements the Minister shall cause an examination to be made and a report furnished to him by a qualified officer of the public service as to the extent and character of auriferous ground which the proposed work would be likely to command, the extent to which it would be for the benefit of the majority of the miners in the locality, and generally as to its utility.