REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4859 - AN ACT TO
AMEND SECTIONS TWO, FOUR, FIVE, SIX AND TEN OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED
THIRTY HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR
ASSISTANCE TO THE GOLD MINING INDUSTRY"
Section 1. Section s two, four, five, six and ten of Republic
Act Numbered Thirty hundred eighty-nine, as amended, are hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 2. Definition of Terms. — When used in this Act
the following terms shall, unless the context otherwise indicates, have
the following respective meanings:
"(a) 'Gold Producer' means any person, corporation,
partnership or association which produces gold as principal product or
as by-product, by itself or through an operating agreement, during the
effectivity of this Act;
"(b) 'Government' means the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines;
"(c) 'Board' means the Gold Mining Industry
Assistance Board created to carry out the provisions of this Act;
"(d) 'Cost of production' of bullion from a mine
means to cost incurred by the producer and properly attributable to the
production of bullion and includes mining, milling, smelting, refining,
production tax, marketing expenses, transportation, administrative
costs, depreciation and depletion under standardized procedure to be
adopted by the Board, amortization of rehabilitation expenses and
interests on capital loans;
"(e) 'Newly-mined gold' means any gold fresh from the
mill or smelter which has never been in trade or commerce, certified as
such by the gold producer and confirmed by the Board;
"(f) 'Free market' means domestic open market;
"(g) 'Assistance' is the amount given by the
Government to gold producers during the effectivity of this Act;
"(h) 'Official price' means the equivalent in
Philippine peso of the official world price of gold, which is presently
fixed at $35 per ounce, based on the official rate of exchange of P3.90
to U.S. $1.00, or any other rate that may subsequently be fixed by the
Government;
"(i) 'Ounce' means troy ounce which is one-twelfth
part of a pound of five thousand seven hundred sixty grains, or four
hundred eighty grains or 31.1035 grams;
"(j) 'Refined gold' means gold that has been purified
to the fineness acceptable to the Central Bank;
"(k) 'Mine producing gold as principal product'
refers to a mine where the receipt from whatever source from the sale
of gold is more than fifty per cent of the total receipts; and
"(l) 'Mine producing gold as by-product' refers to a
mine where the receipts from whatever source from the sale of gold is
fifty per cent or less of its total receipts.
"Sec. 4. Gold producers qualified to receive
assistance. — To be entitled to the assistance provided in this Act, a
gold producer must sell to the Central Bank, and the Central Bank is
hereby directed to purchase, its entire production of newly-mined gold,
whether produced as principal product or as by-product, at the official
price defined in Sec. 2(h) hereof. Should a gold producer sell his
gold violation of this section at any time during a certain year, the
entire production for that year shall not be entitled to assistance.
Any assistance already given shall be refunded, and the manager or
person in-charge of the mining corporation that sells its gold produce
or part thereof in violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be
punished by a fine of not more than P5,000 or an imprisonment of not
more than two years or both in the discretion of the court. The Central
Bank shall issue a receipt for all gold purchased by it under this Act,
which receipt shall show the number of ounces of gold purchased.
"Sec. 5. Manner of payment under this Act. — In
addition to the official price defined in Sec. 2(h), all gold
producers shall receive assistance as follows:
"(a) Mines producing gold as by-product — fifty pesos
per ounce.
"(b) Mines whose annual production of gold as
principal product is one hundred thousand ounces or less — sixty pesos
per ounce plus seventy per cent of the positive difference between the
cost of production per ounce of gold and the official price: provided,
that this assistance and the official price shall not exceed two
hundred sixty pesos per ounce.
"(c) Mines whose annual production of gold as
principal product is more than one hundred thousand ounces — fifty
pesos per ounce plus sixty-five per cent of the positive difference
between the cost of production per ounce of gold and the official
price: provided, that this assistance and the official price shall not
exceed two hundred thirty pesos per ounce.
"Every gold producer enjoying assistance shall give a bonus equivalent
to seven and one-half per cent of the assistance received to its
employees whose salaries do not exceed five hundred pesos per month.
"Sec. 6. Term. — This direct assistance shall cease
when the present official world price of gold of US $35.00 per ounce is
increased by international treaty or convention to an amount equivalent
to at least seventy dollars per ounce.
"Sec. 10. Determination of the cost of production. —
The Board shall determine the cost of production of each gold mine
every semester of each calendar year during the effectivity of this
Act."
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: August 2, 1966
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