BRITISH COLUMBIA 183

In the Windermere Valley.

is requisite for the retention of placer claims. Continuous work, as far as
practicable, during working hours, is necessary, otherwise a cessation of
work for 72 hours, except by permission of the gold commissioner, is re-
garded as an abandonment. The commissioner, however, has power to
authorize suspension of work under certain conditions, and also to grant
rights-of-way to facilitate working of claims. No special privileges are
granted to discoverers of mineral claims, but those satisfying the gold
commissioner that they have made a new ‘‘placer”’ discovery are allotted
claims of extra size.

A free miner may only hold by location one mineral claim on the same
lode or vein, but may acquire others by purchase; and in placer digging
he may not locate more than one claim on each creek, ravine or hill, and
not more than two in the same locality, only one of which may be a creek
claim. :
In both mineral and placer Acts, provision is made for the formation
of mining partnerships, both of a general and limited liability character;
‘also for the collection of the proportion of value for assessment work that
may be due from any co-owner.

Leases of unoccupied Crown lands are granted for hydraulic mining
and dredging, upon the recommendations of the gold commissioner after
certain requirements have been complied with. An application fee of
$20.00 is payable. Leases may not exceed 20 years duration. For a creek
lease the maximum area is half a mile, and the minimum rental $75;
hydraulic lease, area 80 acres, rental $50 and at least $1,000 per annum to
be spent on development; dredging lease, area 5 miles, rent $50 per mile,
development work, $1000 per mile per annum and a royalty payable to
the Government of 50 cents per ounce of gold mined.
Mineral or placer claims are not subject to taxation unless Crown
‘Granted, in which case the tax is 25 cents per acre per annum; but if $200
is spent in work on the claim in a year this tax is remitted. A tax of 2
per cent is levied on all ores and other mineral products, the valuations
being the net return from the smelter; that is, the cost of freight and
treatment is deducted from the value of the product, but not that of min-
ing. Those taxes are in substitution for all taxes on land, personal pro-
perty tax in respect of sums so produced, so long as the land.is used for only