DECREE NO. 4265 OF JANUARY 15, 1921, REGULATING THE OWNER- PRELIMINARY REGULATIONS. Art. 1. The provisions of this law are applicable to all mines existing in this Art. 2. For the purpose of this law, mines are considered to be not only the mines proper, but layers or strata of natural concentration to be found on the surface or within the earth, composed of valuable substances for in- dustry, which can be exploited with economical advantage, containing or not metallic or semi-metallic elements and the respective ores, combustibles, fos- sils, gems or precious stones and other substances of important industrial Art. 4. Any doubts arising as to the legal classification of minerals shall be decided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, upon hearing CHAPTER II. OWNERSHIP OF MINES. Art. 5. A mine constitutes immovable property, an accessory of the soil, but apart from the same. Sole paragraph. The articles considered as a part of the mine are those permanently destined to its exploitation such as shafts, masonry work, subterranean and superficial constructions, machinery and instruments, animals and vehicles used in the mines, the materials used for working the mines and stored provisions. Art. 6. The mine owner shall be allowed to separate the mine from the soil in order to lease, mortgage or alienate same and may also do so regarding the ownership of the soil, reserving that of the mine for himself. Art. 7. In lease contracts, in emphyteuses or in leases at a quit-rent of the soil, the right to exploit the mine, in case it exists, is not transferred but shall always belong to the owner. Any transfer of the right of exploitation shall be subject to a special contract. Art. 8. The lessee of the mine shall not sub-lease it without the consent of the lessor. Art. 9. The transfer of the temporary ownership of the mine shall only be realized by handing over same to the original proprietor, but the exploitation of same may be passed over to a third party-free of charge or for a certain price. Art. 10. (Applies to part-ownership of mines and divisions of the same). Art. 11. (Provides for sale on liquidation of a corporation owner). Art. 12. In each notary office for the registration of deeds, there shall be a special book for the registering of mines. The entry in the 'Registry of Mines' ratifies the property, whether wholly by ownership of the soil or partially acquired by right of part-ownership, by discovery or other lawful origin. Sec. 1. Private parties or legal entities in whose name the mine shall have been registered, shall have the right to work same or to obtain concession for said purpose. Art. 13. Mines may be disappropriated for industrial exploitation under terms of Art. 590, Secs. 2, 4, of the Civil Code. Art. 14. In the lease of mines, the suspension of work may cause the annulment of the contract. Art. 15. The rental or the disposal of lands belonging to the Union shall not include the ownership of mines, except by a special clause. In cases omitted in this law the property of the mines is regulated by the provisions of the common law. CHAPTER III. DISCOVERY OF MINES. Art. 16. To reveal unequivocal signs of the existence of a new mine or strata shall constitute the discovery of same. Art. 17. All persons, either national or foreign residing in Brazil, as well as any corporation or company legally constituted, may register the discovery of a mine. Sec. 1. The registration of a document shall be made by the official in charge of the registry of deeds of each district, based upon a despatch by the judge of said district. Sec. 2. The document must contain the precise nature of the strata and its topographical position, the name of the owner of the soil and all other indications which shall be required under the provisions of this law. Sec. 3. A certificate of the terms of said document entered in the 'Registry of Mines' shall be given, word for word, to the person presenting it, and a limit of one year allowed him for effecting prospects. Sec. 4. The judge of the district shall send a certificate ex-officio of said document to the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, at the same time advising the proprietor of the discovery, and in his absence, the curator of absentees, demanding a receipt of said communication. Sec. 5. The registration of the document shall only give right to prospecting in a limited area, determined by the regulations in accordance with the nature of the strata and other conditions. Art 18. The same deposit of minerals may be the subject of more than one registration by different parties. Sec. 1. The first party who makes a declaration shall have preference for a year to make prospects within the area allowed, and the others successively for the same length of time according to the order of the respective dates inscribed. Sec. 2. Any of the parties may renounce his right to the period allowed in favor of the next in order of inscription. Sec. 3. The right of prospecting is not transferable. Sec. 4. If within 60 days from the date of the receipt of Communication referred to in Section 4, Article 17, the owner, the holder, or the part-owner take part in the declaration of mine discovery registration, he shall be given preference for carrying on prospecting, only however within a year from the date of inscription of his document. Sec. 5. Independently of the communication of the judge, the owner, holder or part-owner inscribed shall have preference over any other party during the same length of time. CHAPTER IV. MINE PROSPECTING. Art. 19. All work having in view the verification of the existence and economical capacity of the mine from the surface excavations to the sounding and opening of shafts and galleries, is as prospecting or sounding. Art. 20. Prospecting may be effected without order of preference by the following: (a) The Government of the Union; (b) The Proprietor; (c) One or more part-owners in the property pro indiviso. (d) By a competent third party authorized by the proprietor or by any partowner in the property pro indiviso and by making the declaration, legally constituted. Art. 21. The prospecting effected by the Government of the Union shall take place after being recognized as of public utility. Art. 22. The Government shall communicate with the proprietor before commencing to prospect. In case said proprietor prefers to do so on his own account, a time limit of a year shall be allowed him under the terms of Section 4, Article 18, of this law. This preference not having been verified or the time having elapsed without prospecting having begun, he shall be previously indemnified, if he demands it, of all damages incurred by the use of his property. If he refuses an indemnity, the legal value determined upon shall be consigned to him. Sole Section. In effecting this indemnity all rules applying to the construction of railroads of the Union, shall be followed after the necessary changes shall have been made. Art. 23. The owner may prospect in the mines existing on his own lands, subject to the provisions and regulations of this law. Arts. 24 and 25. (Have reference to prospecting by part-owners and the resulting rights.) Art. 26. Any party registering the discovery of a mine may prospect in lands belonging to the Union after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. Sole section. The dimensions of the surface and the time allowed for prospecting as well as the formalities and requirements of an administrative nature shall be determined by the regulations. Art. 27. The party publishing the declaration may prospect on private lands after obtaining the consent of the proprietor. Sec. 1. Should the proprietor agree to the prospecting, he shall determine with the declaring party the basis upon which these works shall be effected and those for utilizing the mine, independent of administrative intervention. Sec. 2. Should the proprietor not consent to prospecting by the party declaring the discovery, the latter may make declaration and register the discovery before the district judge in accordance with sections 4 and 5 of Article 18, with a clear declaration that he shall bind himself to effect said prospecting within a year from the date of the inscription of same. Sec. 3. Should the proprietor not carry out said prospecting within the year or should he declare at once that he does not desire to prospect, the district judge, with a petition from the party registering the discovery, shall re-validate the declaration of same, granting him a year in which to render effective the license for prospecting. Sec. 4. For this purpose the judge shall order an appraisement of the damages which may be incurred by said prospect to the proprietor of the lands, and of the indemnity for occupation of the indispensable area. Sec. 5. The sum having been determined by arbitration between the interested parties, in accordance with the regulations of this law, the party registering the mine shall deposit the total amount at the nearest federal receiving office. Sec. 6. The deposit voucher shall serve as a document to enable the judge to draw up a summons to the proprietor, which in the form of a certificate shall constitute a definite license for prospecting; and from thereon any embargo shall not have suspensive action over the works. Art. 28. The owner of the soil may sell the ores and substances extracted during the work of prospecting. Art. 29. The party effecting the prospect, if not the owner of the mine, shall make use only of the ores and substances extracted during the work of prospecting for industrial analyses and tests, only being allowed to sell them after mining works are begun. Sole section. The confirmation of the sale of said products shall be sufficient reason for a rescission of the consent given by the proprietor, or the revocation of the license for prospecting granted by the competent authorities. Art. 30. Works of prospecting made for account of others shall be considered as that made under contract or paid by salary by such other or second parties. CHAPTER V. WORKING OF THE MINE. Art. 31. If a mine shall have been prospected by the Government, the utilization of same shall be made in the following order: (1) by the owner of the land, who shall undertake the mining; (2) by a third party through a yielding of the rights by the proprietor; (3) by the Government, in case the proprietor shall not effect mining himself, said government effecting the service of strictly mineral exploitation by administration; (4) by third parties in virtue of a Government concession. Sec. 1. In the hypotheses of (1) and (2), the proprietor shall make no payment to the Government, except in the case mentioned in the last part of Article 22, in which case in order to begin the mining work, he shall return, apart from the indemnity determined half of the amount expended in prospecting. Sec. 2. In the hypotheses of (3) and (4), the owner of the soil shall at his option receive indemnity for the property or a percentage of the net profit of exploitation, which shall not exceed 3%. Sec. 3. The value of the area indispensable to the mining works as well as that of the mine or layer, shall be included in the appraisement of the property to be indemnified, taking into consideration for the estimate to be made of the latter, all circumstances which it may be possible to determine such as underground waters, the nature of the ore, the richness of the strata, at least in contrast to others of the same kind existing in the same region, the mining facilities, means of transportation and the respective distances to the markets and all the special characteristics of the layer or stratum. Sec. 4. In case of a formal refusal on the part of the owner to consent to the working of the mine, the Government shall exploit same on its own account or through a third party after having effected the disappropriation of same based upon a previous indemnity determined in accordance with the foregoing paragraph. Art. 32. Prospecting having been made by the owner of the soil, said owner may have the mine entered in the list of mines in the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, with an indication of its denomination and characteristics, namely; the exact situation of the mine, its approximate extension, the quality of the ore, it being preferable that the communication be accompanied by drawings and samples for analyses and tests. Sec. 1. The mine having been entered in the proper book, an authentic certificate of the entry shall be given to the owner with the proviso that the works shall commence within a year counting from the date of registration and subject to the regulations of this law. Sec. 2. A receipt shall be given by the Ministry upon receiving the documents for the entry of the mine on the list. Based upon this receipt the owner is authorized to effect the mining of same within a year from the date of the receipt. Sec. 3. If at the end of the year's limit, the proprietor shall not have been able to commence mining by reason of unforeseen circumstances to be justified before the official of the Ministry, he may be granted an extension for another year, which shall not be renewed. Sec. 4. The above mentioned limit of time having elapsed, or rather should the proprietor declare his intention of not effecting the mining works, a note of said declaration shall be entered in the book and the mine considered available to others. |