Statutes of Newfoundland 1995 Chapter 11

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Statutes of Newfoundland 1995

CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 11

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MINERAL ACT
(Assented to December 21, 1995)

Analysis

1. S.31 Amdt.
Mining lease

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSN1990 cM-12 as amended

1. (1) Paragraph 31(5)(c) of the Mineral Act is amended by striking out the semicolon and the word "and" at the end of subparagraph (v) and by substituting a comma, and by adding immediately after subparagraph (v) the following:

(vi) that the lessee shall, where required to do so by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, complete primary production, in whole or in part, in the province, of a mineral or mineral ore extracted or removed under the lease; and

(2) Section 31 of the Act is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (5) the following:

(6) For the purpose of subparagraph (5)(c)(vi), "primary production" means production resulting from smelting, processing or refining a mineral or mineral ore, and includes concentrating and milling of a mineral or mineral ore and all metallurgical operations in which metals or minerals are separated from those impurities with which they may be chemically combined or physically mixed.

(7) Notwithstanding subparagraph (5)(c)(vi), the Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall not require as a condition of a lease that primary production, in whole or in part, be completed in the province where the lessee demonstrates that it would not be economically feasible to do so or where the lessee demonstrates that for another reason it would be unreasonable to be required to do so.

(8) For the purpose of this section, "economically feasible" means having the capacity to generate a just and reasonable return but does not mean the capacity to generate the highest possible return.

(9) Not later than January 1, 1997, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall declare and table in the legislature if the legislature is then sitting and if not, within 15 days of the next sitting, the criteria which shall be applied by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council in deciding whether to require a lessee to complete primary production, in whole or in part, in the province.

(10) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may change the criteria and where the criteria are changed the requirements of subsection (9) apply to the changes.