SEC. 64. The Director of the Bureau of Mines may designate competent mineral or deputy mineral land surveyors to survey mining claims for any necessary purpose under the provisions of this Act. He is also hereby empowered to fix the bonds of duly qualified deputy mineral land surveyors and to issue the necessary regulations governing the execution and verification of surveys of mineral lands in the Philippines. All applications for official surveys of mining claims shall be filed with the Director of the Bureau of Mines and the expenses of such surveys shall be paid by the applicants. They shall be at liberty to employ any such deputy mineral surveyor to make the survey at the most reasonable rate.
SEC. 65. At the time of the official survey the corners of mining claims shall be marked with concrete monuments, iron pipes, or with such other objects of a permanent nature as may be prescribed by regulations.
SEC. 66. In all surveys the astronomical meridian shall be made within the limits of accuracy prescribed by regulations. After the technical adjustments have been made the resulting bearings and distances between consecutive corners as computed from the adjusted data, shall be adopted and recognized.
SEC. 67. Any person authorized to locate a mining claim under this Act, having claimed and located a piece of land for mining purposes who has complied with the terms of this Act, may file with the Director of the Bureau of Mines an application under oath for a mining lease thereon, showing such compliance. A plan and a technical description of the mining claim covered by the application shall be filed therewith or as soon thereafter as the same may be obtained from the Bureau of Mines under the provisions of this Act. In the case of an application to lease a mining claim located on private lands, the same shall be accompanied by a written authority of the owner of the land: Provided, however, That in case of refusal of the owner of the land to grant such written authority, the same shall be granted by the court as soon as the applicant deposits the amount fixed as the value of the land and as compensation for any resulting damage or files a bond to be approved by the Court sufficient to insure the payment of the rental of the land as determined in accordance with section twenty-seven of this Act. Should there have been no proceeding instituted by the applicant, as provided for under section twenty-seven of this Act, the Court shall determine the value of the land and the compensation for any resulting damage or its reasonable rental for the purposes above mentioned and grant the written authority required herein.
SEC. 68. Application for a lease on mining claim shall be filed within two years from the date of the recording of the claim in the office of the mining recorder or within two years from the date of the approval of this Act. Failure to file such application within the period above mentioned shall be deemed an abandonment of the mining claim, and the land embraced within such claim shall thereupon be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made: Provided, That the original locator, his heirs, or his assigns, who has or have thus failed to file a lease application on the claim shall not be entitled to relocate, directly or indirectly, the land embraced within such claim, or any part thereof.
SEC. 69. A single application may be filed, and a single lease may be granted covering one or more mining claims: Provided, That all such claims to be included under one lease are adjoining or contiguous to each other, and are held by the same holder: Provided, further, That the total area or number of the said claims to be covered by a single lease shall not exceed the maximum area, or the maximum number of claims authorized to be held or leased in any province or district, or on the same vein, or on the same placer ground by any one person, association, or corporation.
SEC. 70. All applications for mining lease shall be addressed to the Director of Mines, sworn to and shall state, among others:
(a) The name and post-office address of the applicant, stating whether he is an individual, his first name and surname both paternal and maternal, his birthplace, age and citizenship, and capital intended for the exploitation of the land, and if it is a corporation or association, stating its complete title and accompanying (1) a certified copy of the deed of partnership, its by-laws and rules; (2) a certified list of the stockholders and partners, with the details above specified insofar as the individual applicants are concerned, the number of shares he possesses and the amount he paid for them; (3) a certified list of its board of directors and executive officers, with the address of their offices and residences; and (4) in case there are foreign stockholders or partners, the total amount of the shares of each one of them in the capital stock.
(b) That the application is made for the exclusive benefit of the applicant and not, directly or indirectly, for that of any other person whether natural or juridical who is disqualified to acquire a mining lease under the law.
SEC. 71. The statements made in the application or made later in support thereof, shall be considered as conditions and essential parts of the lease that may be granted by virtue of such application, and any falsehood in those statements or omission of facts which may alter, change or affect substantially the facts set forth in said statements shall cause the cancellation of the lease granted.
SEC. 72. Upon receipt of the application, and provided that the requirements of this Act have been substantially complied with, the Director of the Bureau of Mines shall publish a notice that such application has been made, once a week for a period of three consecutive weeks, in the Official Gazette and in two newspapers, one published in Manila either in English or Spanish, and the other published in the municipality or province in which the mining claim is located, if there is such newspaper, otherwise, in the newspaper published in the nearest municipality or province. The first publication of such notice shall be made within thirty days after the filing of the application for lease, if such application is accompanied by an official plan and technical description of the claim or claims covered by the application, and thirty days after the filing of the official plan and technical description of the claim or claims covered by the application, if such application was filed in advance of the filing of such plan and technical description. The Director of the Bureau of Mines shall also cause to be posted on the bulletin board of the Bureau of Mines the same notice for the same period. The applicant shall post for the same period a copy of the plat of the claim or claims applied for, together with a notice of such application for lease, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat, on the bulletin board, if any, of the municipal building of the municipality, and also in the office of the mining recorder or district mining officer of the province or district in which the claim or claims are located and shall file with the Director of the Bureau of Mines the affidavit of at least two persons stating that such notice has been duly posted in the places above specified. At the expiration of the period of publication the applicant shall file with the Director of the Bureau of Mines an affidavit showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the claim or claims concerned and in the places above specified during such period of publication, and thereupon, if no adverse claim shall have been presented to the Director of the Bureau of Mines, it shall be conclusively presumed that no adverse claim exists and thereafter no objection from third parties to the granting of the lease shall be heard; and the lease shall within forty-five days be granted to the applicant, or to his successor or assigns, by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, provided that all amounts then due to the Government of the Philippines, or any of its branches or subdivisions, under the provisions of this Act, shall have been paid. Section73. At any time during the period of publication, any adverse claim may be filed under oath with the Director of the Bureau of Mines, and shall state in full detail the nature, boundaries, and extent of the adverse claim, and shall be accompanied by all plans, documents, and agreements upon which such adverse claim is based. Upon the filing of any adverse claim all proceedings except the publication of notice of application for lease and the making and filing of the affidavits in connection therewith, as herein prescribed, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within forty-five days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to determine the controversy and to prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment, and a failure to do so shall be considered as a waiver of his adverse claim. After such judgment shall been rendered, the party whose right to a lease on the mining claim in controversy, or any portion thereof, shall have been established thereby, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment with the Director of the Bureau of Mines, and the description required in such cases, together with the proper fees, whereupon a lease may forthwith be granted thereon on such mining claim or on such portion thereof as the applicant may be entitled to under the decision of the court. If the decision of the court is that several parties are entitled to leases upon separate and different portions of the mining claim, the subject matter of the application, and such parties have theretofore applied therefor, leases may forthwith be issued to the said several parties according to their respective rights as determined by the decision. If in any action brought pursuant to this section a right to a lease upon any of the claim in controversy shall not be established by any of the parties, the courts shall so find and judgment shall be entered accordingly. In such case the clerk of the court rendering judgment shall file a certified copy of the judgment with the Director of the Bureau of Mines, whereupon the proceedings under the lease application shall be dismissed and the application denied.
SEC. 74. Leases under the provisions of this Act shall be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years from the date of the execution of the lease contract, and shall be renewable under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law for another period not exceeding twenty-five years. The total period of any lease and the extension thereof shall not exceed fifty years. Such leases shall provide that the lessee may at any time during the life of the lease apply for the cancellation of the same, and surrender the property leased whenever, because of force majeure, or for other causes, it is impossible to continue profitable mining operations thereon. No such lease or renewal thereof shall be assigned or sublet without the prior consent of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce which shall be granted if the assignment or sublease is to such persons, associations, or corporations as have the qualifications required of locators, holders, or lessees under the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 75. Leases may be granted covering mining claims located on private lands: Provided, That any exploration, occupation, use or lease of any private land pursuant to this Act shall be subject to the payment of compensation to the owner thereof as provided in this Act.
SEC. 76. Subject to the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution, the maximum area that may be leased to a person, association, or corporation under the provisions of this Act in any one province shall be as follows:
(a) For lands of the first group containing metals or metalliferous ores: not more than four hundred fifty hectares containing minerals in vein or lode deposits for any individual, association, partnership, sociedad anonima or corporation, nor more than four hundred hectares containing minerals in placer deposits for any individual, nor more than three thousand two hundred hectares containing minerals in placer deposits for any corporation, association, sociedad anonima or limited partnership: Provided, however, That in no case shall the total number of lode mineral claims that a lessee may lease, exceed two hundred fifty in the entire Philippines.
(b) For lands of the second group containing precious stones: not more than forty hectares for an individual, nor more than three hundred twenty hectares for a corporation, or an association, sociedad anonima, or limited partnership.
(c) For lands of the fourth group containing salines and mineral waters: not more than twenty-four hectares for an individual, nor more than one hundred ninety-two hectares for a corporation, an association, sociedad anonima, or limited partnership.
(d) For lands of the fifth group containing building stones in place, clays, fertilizers, and other nonmetals: not more than four hundred fifty hectares containing minerals in vein or lode deposits for any individual, association, sociedad anonima, limited partnership or corporation: Provided, however, That in no case shall the total number of such lode mineral claims exceed two hundred fifty in the entire Philippines; nor more than four hundred hectares containing minerals in placer deposits for any individual; nor more than three thousand two hundred hectares containing minerals in placer deposits for any association, sociedad anonima, limited partnership or corporation.
SEC. 77. Every lease granted under this Act shall contain a clause by which the lessee shall bind himself to comply with the provisions of this Act and with such rules and regulations for the policing and sanitation of mines, easements, drainage, disposal of waste or tailings, water rights, right-of-way, right of Government survey and inspection, and other necessary means to their economic utilization, as well as such rules for the purpose of insuring the exercise of reasonable diligence, skill, and care in the mining operation on the land covered by the lease, as may be promulgated by the Director of the Bureau of Mines and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, under and pursuant to the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 78. Every lease granted under this Act shall be construed as granting to the lessee, his successors or assigns, the right to extract all mineral deposits of the group for which the lease or leases had been granted within the boundary lines of the claim or claims covered by the lease, continued vertically downward; to remove and utilize the same for his own benefit, and to use the lands covered by the lease for the purpose or purposes specified therein: Provided, That in the case of leases covering placer locations the lessee shall not be entitled to extract minerals from any lode or vein deposit found within the boundary of his, its, or their placer claims but the lessee shall have the preferential right to locate and lease such lode deposits. The same privilege shall be granted to lessee for minerals or mineral products belonging to different group or groups found therein upon the condition that the lessee shall first comply with the requirements of the law. Any such location, occupation, use, or lease permitted under this Act shall reserve to the Government the right to grant or use such easements in, over, under, through, or upon lands so entered, located, occupied, leased or used, as may be necessary to the working of the same, or of other mineral lands: Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, in granting any lease under this Act may reserve to the Government the right to lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of the surface of the lands embraced within such lease, under existing law or laws, insofar as said surface is not necessary for use by the lessee in extracting and removing the mineral deposits from the land covered by such lease, or in beneficiation of the ores extracted therefrom, or from any other mining claim. The Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, during the life of the lease, is authorized to issue permits for easements herein provided to be reserved, and to permit the use of the lands covered by the lease, or of such other public lands, as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of mills, mining camps, or other works incident to the mining and milling operations on the lands covered by any lease granted under this Act, or on any other mineral lands.
SEC. 79. For the privilege of exploring, developing, mining, extracting, and disposing of the minerals from the lands covered by his lease, the lessee shall pay to the Government of the Philippines, through the Collector of Internal Revenue, the rentals, royalties, and taxes provided by law. The rentals shall be due and payable in advance on the date of the granting of the lease, and on the same date every year thereafter during the life of the lease or any renewal thereof; the royalties shall be due and payable within sixty days after the shipment of the mineral or mineral products from the mines; and the tax at the time and in the manner all other real estate taxes are payable under the law. Before the mineral or mineral products are removed from the mines, the Collector of Internal Revenue or his representatives shall first be duly notified thereof. The rentals, royalties, and taxes, shall be as follows:
(a) Rentals. — On all mineral lands of the first, second, fourth, and fifth groups provided for under this Act — one peso per hectare or fraction thereof. Fifty per centum of all the rentals collected shall accrue to the province, and fifty per centum, to the municipality in which the mining claim or claims is or are located: Provided, That in case of chartered cities the full amount shall accrue to the city concerned.
(b) Royalties. — On all minerals extracted from, or mineral products of, mineral lands of the first, second, fourth and fifth groups as provided for in this Act — a royalty of one and one-half per centum of the actual market value of gross output thereof; Provided, That in the case of gold mines, their annual gross output shall be subject to a royalty of one and one-half per centum when the value of the said output does not exceed five hundred thousand pesos; two per centum when the value exceeds five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed one million pesos; two and one-half per centum when the value exceeds one million pesos but does not exceed one million five hundred thousand pesos; three per centum when the value exceeds one million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed two million pesos; three and three-eighths per centum when the value exceeds two million pesos but does not exceed two million five hundred thousand pesos; three and three-fourths per centum when the value exceeds two million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed three million pesos; four and one-eighth per centum when the value exceeds three million pesos but does not exceed three million five hundred thousand pesos; four and one-half per centum when the value exceeds three million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed four million pesos; four and three-fourths per centum when the value exceeds four million pesos but does not exceed four million five hundred thousand pesos; five per centum when the value exceeds four million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed five million pesos; five and one-eighth per centum when the value exceeds five million pesos but does not exceed five million five hundred thousand pesos; five and one-fourth per centum when the value exceeds five million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed six million pesos; five and three-eighths per centum when the value exceeds six million pesos but does not exceed six million five hundred thousand pesos; and five and one-half per centum when the value exceeds six million five hundred thousand pesos: Provided, further, That the following rates of deduction from the royalties on the annual gross output of gold payable under the provisions of this section shall be allowed:
(1) Fifteen per centum in the case of lode mines producing gold from ores which average less than ten pesos, but more than seven pesos per ton;
(2) Twenty-five per centum in the case of lode mines producing gold from ores which averages less than seven pesos per ton. The average value per ton of ore shall be determined by the total number of tons milled during that year for any particular lode mine.
(3) Thirty-five per centum in the case of gold placer mines.
The term "gross output" of mines or mineral lands shall be interpreted as the actual market value of mineral or mineral products, or of bullion from each mine or mineral lands operating as a separate entity without any deduction for mining, milling, refining, transporting, handling, marketing, or any other expenses. The output of any group of contiguous mining claims shall not be subdivided. All the royalties herein provided to be charged shall accrue to the general fund of the Philippine Treasury, and shall be in lieu of the ad valorem tax on the market value of the output of mines provided to be levied and collected, under section fifteen hundred thirty-four of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended by Act Numbered Four thousand fifty-eight. In case mining is carried on upon private lands, the royalty due on the value of the output of such mines under any and all leases granted for the purposes shall be reduced by five per centum of the amount due to the Government under the provisions of this Act, which reduction shall be paid by the lessee to the land owner. This privilege shall not be granted to any person acquiring an option on the surface right after any mining location has been made on the mineral found therein.
(c) Taxes. — All buildings and other improvements built in the land leased, except machines, mechanical, electrical and chemical contrivances, instruments, tools, implements, appliances and apparatus, used in connection with the mining and milling operations on the land leased, shall be subject to an annual real estate tax which shall be paid at the rate and in the manner all other real estate taxes are paid under the law. Fifty per centum of the real estate tax collected as herein provided shall accrue to the province, and fifty per centum of the same shall accrue to the municipality in which the mineral land leased is located: Provided, That in the case of chartered cities the full amount shall accrue to the city concerned.
In contracts of lease granted under this Act, it shall be provided that the rentals, royalties, and taxes, shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of existing law.
SEC. 80. Failure to pay the annual rentals or royalties required by this Act for a period of ninety days after demand shall cause the lease concerned to lapse and the claim or claims, with respect to which such failure to pay was made, shall thereupon be open to relocation and lease by other persons qualified to locate and lease mining claims under the provisions of this Act in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made, unless the lessee, his heirs, executors, administrators, assigns or legal representatives shall have paid all such annual rentals and royalties due and have resumed work on the claim or claims after such failure and before such relocation: Provided, That no person who may be delinquent in the payment of any rental or royalty hereinabove required to be paid on any mining claim or claims held under lease may relocate the same or any portion thereof: Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall preclude the Government from collecting any rental, royalties, or taxes due.
SEC. 81. Any person, association, or corporation holding a lease under the provisions of this Act shall perform during each year, while the lease is in force, not less than two hundred pesos worth of labor, or of improvements, on each mining claim of the first and fifth group, and one hundred pesos worth of labor, or of improvements on each claim of the second and fourth group: Provided, That in the case of a lease covering a group of two or more mining claims leased or held in common, the total amount of labor or improvements required for the said group may be concentrated on any one of the said group, either on the surface or under the ground. The period within which the work required to be done annually on all mining claims shall commence on the first day of January succeeding the date of the granting of the lease on the said claim or claims, and shall be completed on or before the thirty-first day of December of the same year: Provided, further, That failure to perform the annual labor or improvements required herein shall constitute abandonment on the part of the holder and the land shall be subject to relocation by other persons.
SEC. 82. Actual expenditures and cost of mining improvements by the holder of a lease or his grantors, having a direct relation to the development of the claim or group of claims, shall be included in the estimate of assessment work. The expenditures may be made from the surface, or in running a tunnel, drifts, cross-cuts, or trenches for the development of the claim or group of claims. Improvements of any other character, such as buildings, machinery, or roadways, must be excluded from the estimate, unless it is clearly shown that they are associated with actual excavations, such as cuts, tunnels, shafts, and so forth, and are essential to the practical development of, and actually facilitate, the extraction of minerals from the claim, or the leasehold. Labor performed or improvements made, if any, during the period from the date of the recording of the claim to the issuance of the lease thereon, if the locator or holder thereof or their successor in interest should acquire the lease, may be credited for assessment work on the said claim or claims only for the first period or year within which the work is required to be done under the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 83. At any time after the performance of the annual labor or the making of improvements upon a mining claim, but not later than sixty days after the expiration of the period fixed by this Act, the lessee or some person in his behalf cognizant of the facts, shall make and file for record with the mining recorder of the province or district in which the claim is situated an affidavit in substance as follows:
AFFIDAVIT OF ANNUAL ASSESSMENT WORK
GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES)
PROVINCE OF ...................................................) S.S.
I, _______________________ being first duly sworn depose and say that I am a citizen of the __________________ of legal age, resident of __________________, Province of ___________________, Philippines, and am personally acquainted with the mining claims or group of contiguous claims known as ____________________ (Give name of the claim) lode or placer claim or of the contiguous claims in the case of a group on which Lease No. ______________ was granted on ___________________, situated in the barrio of _________________________, municipality of _______________, Province of ________________________, Island of ____________, Philippines, the declaration of location of which ________________ recorded in the office of the mining recorder of the said province or district in Book No. ___________ of the Record of Mining Claims, on pages ___________; that between the ______________ day of _________________, 19_____ and the _________ day of ______________, 19_____ not less than __________ pesos of labor was performed or improvements made upon said claim or group of claims. Such work was done or improvements made by and at the expense of _____________ the lease holder of said claim or group of claims for purpose of complying with the laws of the Government of the Philippines relating to annual assessment work, and _____________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Here give the names and addresses of the miners and other persons who did not work)
were the persons employed by the said lease holder who did such work or made such improvements; and that said work or improvements consisted of and are described as follows, to wit: ____________________________________________________________ Here described the work done
Signature ____________________
Affiant
Subscribed and sworn to before me this _______________ day of ____________________ 19____. The affiant exhibited to me his cedula No. _____________ issued in ______________ on ________________. Signature __________________
Notary Public
Such affidavit, when recorded in due time, shall be prima facie evidence of the performance of such labor or the making of such improvements, and shall be received in evidence by the Director of the Bureau of Mines and by all courts in the Philippines, as shall also the record thereof or a certified copy of the same.
The Collector of Internal Revenue, within sixty days from the date of the receipt of the payment of the rentals or royalties due on any mining lease, or minerals or mineral products extracted therefrom, shall inform the mining recorder concerned and the Director of the Bureau of Mines of such payment, giving the name of the claim or claims, the entry number of the lease, the date of the payment, the number of official receipts, and the name or names of the person, association or corporation for which such payment has been made. The mining recorder, upon receipt of such information, shall cause the same to be entered in his record book and to be posted on the bulletin board of his office for a period of not less than twenty consecutive days.
SEC. 84. Whenever the lessee fails to comply with any provisions of this Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, or with any of the provisions of the lease contract, the lease may be forfeited and cancelled by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce or by appropriate proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction, if necessary, and the lessee shall be liable for all unpaid rentals and royalties due the Government on the lease up to the time of its cancellation.
SEC. 85. In the event that any mining lease is cancelled by the procedure prescribed in the next preceding section hereof, the Director of Bureau of Mines shall, within thirty days after the date of such forfeiture or cancellation, cause a notice thereof to be posted on the bulletin board of the Bureau of Mines and in the office of the mining recorder of the province or district in which such claim or claims covered by such mining lease are situated, and the lands covered thereby shall be thereupon open to relocation and lease under the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 86. When the unoccupied land of the public domain, not known to contain valuable mineral deposits, is necessary or convenient for mining or milling purposes, a parcel of such land, not to exceed nine hectares in extent, may be located for such purpose by any person qualified to locate mining claims under the provisions of this Act, and a lease for such land may at any time thereafter be acquired by the locator for the same period of time and subject to the same terms and conditions regarding the payment of rentals and tax as provided in this Act: Provided, That no such location shall be recorded unless the declaration thereof be accompanied by an affidavit made by the locator, or some person on his behalf cognizant of the facts, to the following effect: That the land covered by the claim is necessary or convenient for specific mining or milling purposes, indicated and described therein, and that no valuable mineral deposits are known to exist within such claim: And provided, further, That if at any time after the said lease has been granted mineral deposits should be discovered within said claim and mineral or minerals be extracted and removed therefrom, on all such output the lessee of the claim shall pay to the Government a royalty at the same rate and subject to the same terms and conditions as are provided in this Act.
SEC. 87. All mineral lands not covered by lease shall be subject to real estate tax payable at the same rate and collectible at the same time and manner and subject to the same liabilities and forfeiture, as provided for in Chapter seventeen of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended.
SEC. 88. There shall be assessed and collected an ad valorem tax of one and one-half per centum of the actual market value of the annual gross output of the minerals or mineral products extracted or produced from all mineral lands, not covered by lease: Provided, That in the case of gold mines, their annual gross output shall be subject to a tax of one and one-half per centum when the value of the said output does not exceed five hundred thousand pesos; two per centum when the value exceeds five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed one million pesos; two and one-half per centum when the value exceeds one million pesos but does not exceed one million five hundred thousand pesos; three per centum when the value exceeds one million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed two million pesos; three and three-eighths per centum when the value exceeds two million pesos but does not exceed two million five hundred thousand pesos; three and three-fourths per centum when the value exceeds two million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed three million pesos; four and one-eighth per centum when the value exceeds three million pesos but does not exceed three million five hundred thousand pesos; four and one-half per centum when the value exceeds three million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed four million pesos; four and three-fourths per centum when the value exceeds four million pesos but does not exceed four million five hundred thousand pesos; five per centum when the value exceeds four million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed five million pesos; five and one-eighth per centum when the value exceeds five million pesos but does not exceed five million five hundred thousand pesos; five and one-fourth per centum when the value exceeds five million five hundred thousand pesos but does not exceed six million pesos; five and three-eighths per centum when the value exceeds six million pesos but does not exceed six million five hundred thousand pesos; and five and one-half per centum when the value exceeds six million five hundred thousand pesos: Provided, further, That the following rates of deduction from the taxes on the annual gross output of gold payable under the provisions of this section shall be allowed:
(1) Fifteen per centum in the case of lode mines producing gold from ores which average less than ten pesos, but more than seven pesos per ton;
(2) Twenty-five per centum in the case of lode mines producing gold ores which average less than seven pesos per ton. The average value per ton of ore shall be determined by dividing the total gross output in pesos for any year by the total number of tons milled during that year for any particular mine;
(3) Thirty-five per centum in the case of gold placer mines.
The terms "gross output" of mines or mineral lands shall be interpreted as the actual market value of mineral or mineral products, or of bullion from each mine or mineral lands operated as a separate entity without any deduction for mining, milling, refining, transporting, handling, marketing, or any other expenses. The output of any group of contiguous mining claims shall not be subdivided.
The said ad valorem tax shall be due and payable to the Government of the Philippines through the Collector of Internal Revenue within sixty days after the shipment of the mineral or mineral products from the mines: Provided, That before any mineral or mineral product may be shipped from the mine, the Collector or Internal Revenue or his representative shall first be duly notified to that effect: Provided, further, That upon failure to pay the ad valorem tax herein levied within the time prescribed, the same penalties or liabilities as provided by existing laws for the collection of such taxes shall be imposed: Provided, finally, That the ad valorem tax herein provided to be paid and collected shall accrue to the general fund of the Philippine Treasury and shall be in lieu of any royalty or other ad valorem taxes imposed by this Act, and by section one thousand five hundred and thirty-four of the Revised Administrative Code as amended by Act Numbered Four thousand fifty-eight.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
