Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-10-03
RECEIVED BY CONSUL
SHOWS ORIGIN AND PRINCIPAL
POINTS OF MEXICAN MINE LAW

An interesting article on the origin
and points of the Mexican mining iaw,
which is of special interest to many
persons in this section, has just been
received by Juan Marshall, Mexican
counsul at Douglas. Mexican laws,
like those of all Latin American eoun-
tries and south European countries,
are based on the Roman code as COM
piled by the Emporer Justinian, 527
A. d. In the cases of Mexico and
the Latin-American countries, this
Inheritance came through Spain,
which, after the fall of the Roman
empire, kept the use ee this code and
transmitted it to her colonies.
In reference to mining, these laws
expressly considered all. mineral
substance in the subsoil as the prop
erty of the empire, the owner of the
surface having no direct rights to
them, and the exploitation of the
minerals being carried our through
concessions. These principles differ
from the legislation of the United
States, which is based upon the old
English common law and gives the
owner of the surface the additional,
ownership of the subsoil
In the year 1347 Spain promulgated
the Alcala ordinances, which vested
In the king the ownership of golo,
silver and lead mines; in the year
14S5 the royal ordinances of CASTLE
were issued, vesting in the king the
ownership of all salt mines and lakes
and on May 20, 1880, Charles III. in
Guided the exploitation of coal mines
under the same conditions. All the
principles of these laws were in force
IN mexico from the time of the Spain
conquest and the 'Novisima Recopila-
clon" of 1905, embodying all these
royal ordinances, was the code used
IN Mexico for many years after the
country achieved Independence In
later years, mining legislation was
gradually perfected until the issuance
OF the present law, which covers the
subject in greater detail and includes
provisions for a more intelligent do.
Velopment of the mining resources Of
the country
Legal Status of Foreign Miners-Tt|
must be clearly understood that the
restrictions which exist in Mexico for
the acquisition of agricultural land
py foreigners in a zone of 62 milas
along the borders and 81 miles a1ono
the seashores do not apply to mining
peSroleum and other industries. While
foreigners cannot acquire there anv
agricultural land, they are leearv
capacltated to obtain concessions FOR
the exploitation of mineral or Metro.
ieum deposits, industries, etc nro-
Vlded that they file with the Maxic.n
oepartment of foreign affairs a 1ec-
laratlon considering themselves snb-
Ject 70 Mexican laws and courts on1v
!hasmuch as the desired concess,on
IS concerned. Concessions are gran+ed
IN that form to foreign individna1c
or companies organized by foreieners
under Mexican laws.
Exploration Concessions-Th non
cesslons include rectangle 1.OOO|
meters (s,2SO feet) per side. and are
issued for a period of two wears
which may be extended from yeap ~
year for three times, Provided thar
Inc consessionaire has executed ex-
pioratlon works and requires addi-
tlonal time in order to IocaYe tho
desired deposits. After this is done |
an exploitation concession must hA |
secured to extract the mineral sub-
stances located.
exploitation Concessions-These oon-
cessions are granted in order to ex-
plois the mineral substances located |
through exploration or those whose !