of the capacity of the plant for the processing of minerals belonging to the public, in the manner and terms indicated in this Law and its Regulations.

In the concessions referred to in Fraction (2), the total capacity of the plant shall be reserved for the processing of minerals belonging to the public.

Article 36. Concessions for ore processing plants shall contain in addition to the necessary technical notes: (1) The class of concession; (2) The location of the plant; (3) The capacity thereof; (4) The periods of time (necessary) to begin and finish the works of construction or installation; and (5) The period of time necessary before commencing the operation of the plant.

processing plants must

Article 37. The concessionaires of ore process minerals of the public in accordance with the schedules of fees which the Ministry of National Economy shall issue after hearing the concessionaire, taking into consideration the capital invested, the amount of mineral recovered through the use of the process employed, as well as the operating costs of the plants.

Article 38. The concessionaires of ore processing plants shall not be under obligation to process the minerals of the public which are not suitable to the metallurgical processes or the mechanical preparation followed in the plant, or to receive amounts of less than one ton of ore.

The acceptance of minerals for processing when these come from different persons, shall be made strictly according to the order of delivery (bor turno).

Article 39. The concessionaire may not dismantle, in whole or in part, the installations comprising the ore plant without authorization from the Department of National Economy, which permit shall only be given when the concessionaire declares that he wishes the concession to be considered as abandoned. Nor may the capacity of

an ore plant be modified without the authorization of the same Department.

The dismantling of the installations of an ore processing plant shall not be authorized when the processing of minerals belonging to the public covers the operation costs of the plant.

Article 40. Concessions for processing plants shall lapse: (1) When the concessionaire does not commence or finish the construction and installation works or does not start the service within the periods of time referred to in Fractions (4) and (5) of Article 36, except for just cause; and (2) When the concessionaire refuses without cause to receive and to measure the minerals tendered to him for processing or mechanical preparation (dressing).

In the cases referred to in the above two Fractions, the concessionaire has the right established by the second paragraph of Fraction (2) of Article 33 of this law.

Article 41. In the case of extinction (shut-down) of a processing plant concession, if the processing of the minerals belonging to the public covers the operating costs of the plant, the Department of National Economy, after hearing the concessionaire, may authorize the Commission for Mining Development to continue operating the plant for its own account upon payment of indemnity to the concessionaire.

CHAPTER VI RIGHTS CONNECTED WITH CONCESSIONS

Article 42. The beneficiary of any of the concessions authorized by this law has the right: (1) To expropriate on previous payment of the corresponding indemnity the land that may be indispensable in the judgment of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor: (a) For erecting all the installations, offices and annexes that may be necessary for the working of his concession; (b) For forming dumps and deposits of tailings or solid refuse from processing plants; and (c) For making effective any other of the rights that this law and its regulations grant with the concessions; (2) To drive, with the authorization of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, the necessary underground workings through free lands or mining lands covered by other concessions, and to connect them with the surface of the land for the sole purpose of obtaining more economical extraction, drainage, or ventilation of the mine workings. These (mine) workings cannot be driven through mining claims containing mineral carbons; (3) To create on lands of another the necessary surface easements for the workings of his concession, at the discretion of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor; (4) To utilize the waters that gush or appear in the mine workings or that may come from the drainage of the same, providing said waters are used exclusively in the works of development, in the processing, smelting or ore-dressing plants, or for domestic uses of the personnel directly employed in the industry, and surplus waters from the drainage of mines shall be granted in accordance with the Law of Federal Waters; and (5) To utilize upon previous payment of indemnity the surplus waters of private property which may be indispensable, in the judgment of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, exclusively for the domestic use of the personnel employed in the mining industry and for the development and processing of the substances dealt with in this law, always being subject to the provisions of its regulations. In the cases of Fractions (1), (2), (3), and (5), the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, before giving its decision, shall hear the parties in the manner and within the terms that the regulations of this law may establish.

Article 43. In case the concessionaire be a foreigner, no expropriation petitioned by him shall be ordered unless he submit proof that he has complied with the provisions established by Article 27 of the General Constitution and its Regulatory Laws.

Article 44. The concessionaire, in order to make use of the rights granted to him by Fraction (2) of Article 42, shall subject himself to the following restrictions: (1) He cannot utilize, unless agreement is made to the contrary, the extraction works existing on the mining claims he may attempt to cross; (2) He can only utilize on said claims the works intended for ventilation or drainage when. the use to be made of the same may not be incompatible with the purpose to which such works are intended and with the limitations that the regulations of this law may establish; and (3) He shall permit the concessionaires of the claims crossed with his drainage or ventilation workings to utilize them for the same purpose.

Article 45. The width of the zone corresponding to any of the easements enumerated in Article 42, shall not exceed ten meters, in the case of surface easements, and three meters for those underground,

with the exception of those cases in which any special installations may be necessary for which a larger area may be required, supporting this fact by an expert opinion.

Article 46. In any case of expropriation or of the creation of an easement on land of another, the concessionaire must previously deposit in the Bank of Mexico, at the disposal of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, the amount that the latter may judge to be sufficient for the indemnity which the owner (of the land) ought to receive.

The amount deposited shall be delivered at once to the said owner if he and the concessionaire are in agreement as to its amount; otherwise, the Department shall hold it on deposit until the amount of the compensation is determined through due course of the law; but the occupation or the use of the easement can be carried out from the moment the deposit is made.

Article 47. When lands of national ownership are affected by an expropriation or easement, the compensation shall be fixed in accordance with the tariffs that the Department of Finance and Public Credit may then have in force.

Article 48. In the use of an easement, the concessionaire remains obligated: (1) To compensate the owner for the damages and losses that may be caused him; (2) To carry out the necessary operations in such a manner that the easement may be the least onerous possible; (3) To extract the mineral substances that he may find and which may originate in the serving claim, placing them at the disposal of the concessionaire of the latter in the case of lands under concession, or in contrary cases at the disposal of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor; always advising the latter of the discovery; and (4) To allow the concessionaire of the serving claim to inspect the Workings for his protection.

Article 49. In the following cases the owner or his successor shall have the right within the term of one year to recover wholly or in part the lands so expropriated, or to extinguish the easements created: (1) When having authorized the expropriation or easement for the purpose of certain operations and such operations shall not have been commenced within the term of one year or the work shall be suspended for the same term, except in cases of force majeure (fuerza mayor) admitted to be such by the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor; (2) When all or part of the respective lands shall be applied to a use different from that for which the expropriation or easement was authorized; and (3) When the concession for which the expropriation or easement may have been authorized, is adjudged to have lapsed.

In cases of expropriation where the recovery of the land has once been decreed, the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, taking into consideration the attendant circumstances and the (length of) time of occupation, shall fix the portion which the owner or his successor must return from the amount received as compensation. The action for recovery of the land expropriated or to have the constituted easements extinguished, cannot be brought if the cause that gave grounds for such action should cease.

Article 50.

In matters concerning easements, in the absence of

provisions in this Chapter, the provisions of the Civil Code of the Federal District shall govern.

Article 51. In case

several petitions should be presented for the expropriation of the same ground, the first in time shall have

preference.

CHAPTER VII

PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE PRESENTATION OF APPLICATIONS

Article 52. The application for prospecting and development concessions shall be presented to the Mining Agency of the Municipality in which the respective claim is located.

Article 53. The priority of an application for a concession gives right of preference with respect to subsequent applications excepting in the case of Article 16 of this law.

Article 54. If the land covered by an application for a concession should lie within the jurisdiction of two or more Mining Agencies, the application can be presented before either Agency, but if several applications are presented before different Agencies which in accordance with this Article can take jurisdiction of the same, the first in time, in accordance with the preceding article, shall have preference.

Article 55. Applications for prospecting and development concessions shall be signed and presented to the Mining Agency by the party at interest or by his representative, who shall support his representation by means of a public document or a special letter of power of attorney (carta poder especial).

In the case covered by Article 57, the same person shall not be allowed to represent two or more parties at interest or to draw up a request for himself.

Article 56. The application must be registered by the Mining Agent at the moment of presentation notwithstanding that it may not be admitted (later) if it does not fulfill the legal and regulatory requirements or if the corresponding fees in accordance with the Tariff are not collected.

Once the registration of the petition is completed, the Agent will return one copy of the same to the party who may have presented it, with the notation (thereon) of registration duly authenticated with his signature.

Article 57. If two or more concessions relative to the same land are presented simultaneously the registry of all of them shall be made in accordance with the provision contained in the foregoing article, and the following steps shall be taken immediately: (1) When Mexicans have also applied, those presented by foreigners shall be immediately rejected in compliance with Article 32 of the Constitution; and (2) If the applications are not classified in one group, that is, if all are not for prospecting or development they shall have preference in the inverse order to that in which they are enumerated; but the holders of the others can register them at the same time over their signatures with the understanding that they are changing or raising them to the group to which the same preference applies.

For this purpose it is declared that the entry can be made with full (legal) effect by the petitioner or the person representing him upon having delivered the petition to the Agency.

The applications which are not modified in the manner provided for in this Fraction shall immediately be rejected; and (3) If all of them are of the same category, that is, applications for prospecting or development concessions, preference shall be given to the one presented by a mining cooperative; and if there is none, lots shall be drawn to determine which one shall be admitted, unless the preference is determined by agreement among the parties at interest.

Article 58. The procedure at the Agency with respect to applications shall be carried out within a period of 60 days, and the following requirements shall be fulfilled in the manner prescribed in the regulations; (1) The posting of a copy of the application on the Bulletin Board of the Agency, in order that it may have the effect of a notice to all those who may believe they have a right to contest; (2) The publication of an extract of the application, at the expense of the applicant, in the Bulletin of Mining Concessions, the organ of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor; (3) The presentation by the applicant of the corresponding survey maps and reports; and (4) The delivery by the applicant, in case he is a foreigner, of the respective certificate from the Department of Foreign Relations.

Article 59. During the 60 days to which the preceding article refers, the applicant for a development concession can apply for a reduction of the number of pertenencias applied for, following in such cases the procedure that may be established in the regulations.

Article 60. Upon conclusion of the procedure at the Agency, the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor will examine the records and if approved, a term of thirty days shall be granted to the applicant in order that he may erect the monuments of the claim as provided for in the regulations, and to fulfill all other requirements which in accordance with the same may be necessary for the issuance of the title.

Article 61. If, as a result of the examination to which reference is made in the foregoing article, the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, in order to render its decision, should require the presentation of data, reports or survey work, it shall request only those which are deemed indispensable to the determination of the case and the applicant shall be compelled to furnish them within the term specified.

Article 62. If by any reason of adjoining mines the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor should find that the claim is composed of two or more groups of pertenencias which are not contiguous, a term of 30 days shall be granted the applicant in which to file a petition of reduction for the group he may select and to request, if convenient to his interests, that he be authorized to file a new application, or applications, for the remaining lands.

In proceedings for reduction the provisions of Article 59 shall be followed.

Article 63.

The applicant who fails to comply with the provisions of Articles 60, 61, and 62, shall be declared to have abandoned his application.