§ Mr. WATTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the mining regulations of Northern Nigeria make it necessary for a prospector to get a right to prospect, costing £5; whether he is then asked to prove that he has capital to the sum of £100, and, before getting an exclusive prospecting right, is made to show that he has working capital of at least £2,000; and, if so, whether he will take steps to alter these regulations so that desirable individuals may not be excluded from the Colony for the benefit of wealthy syndicates?
Mr. HARCOURTThe conditions of Northern Nigeria render it essential that only persons of satisfactory financial standing should be encouraged to embark on mining enterprises in that country. Exclusive licences to prospect are transferable, and have been, I understand, transferred for large sums, and both for the protection of the public and in the interests of the mining industry it is necessary that thebona fides of applicants for these licences should be fully established, and their capacity for carrying out the provisions of the law as to genuine prospecting during the whole of the currency of the licence ascertained beforehand. The guarantees required by the Government of Northern Nigeria appear to me reasonable, and I do not propose to intervene with a view to their abolition or reduction.