Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

6.   Payment of compensation

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   (1)   Except as provided in this section, where minerals are won in, on or under any land which is not Crown land, there shall be paid to the owner of the land such compensation as is in this section provided in respect of the minerals so won.

However, where there is a tenant for life of such land, the compensation payable to the owner shall be paid into the Treasury to the credit of the owner and (despite anything to the contrary contained in the Savings Bank Act, or in any rules made thereunder with respect to the limitation of the amount of a deposit and the interest payable thereon) it shall be invested by the Accountant General in the Government Savings Bank without limit as to amount, and the income arising therefrom shall be paid to the tenant for life during his or her lifetime, and upon his or her death the capital sum so invested shall be paid to the owner of the land.

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   (2)   The compensation to be paid under this section shall be 5% of the royalties paid to the Government and it shall be paid at such times and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

However, if any person proves to the satisfaction of the Governor General that he or she was at the commencement of this Act in receipt of any income derived from mining operations carried on lands of which he or she is the owner, the compensation to be paid to him or her shall be the full amount of the royalties paid to the Government during the period for which compensation is payable under this section, and in any case the amount of such compensation shall not be less than the income by way of royalties to which, but for the passing of this Act, such person would have been entitled under any subsisting agreement.

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   (3)   Compensation shall not be payable to the owner of any land at any time after either—

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      (a)     the 50th anniversary of the commencement of this Act; or

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      (b)     the 25^th anniversary of the day upon which, after the commencement of this Act, such minerals were first won in, on, or under such land,

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   whichever first happens.

However, where mining operations are suspended on the area of the mining lease the period during which such operations are so suspended shall not be taken into account in determining such 25th anniversary.

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   (4)   Compensation shall not be payable in respect of any precious metals, precious stones, or geothermal energy which are won in, on or under any land.

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   (Amended by Act 7 of 1989)