(1) An application for the renewal of a prospecting licence shall be made ninety days before the expiry of the prospecting licence and shall be accompanied by a statement containing-
(a) reasons for seeking renewal;
(b) a report containing details of the prospecting operations undertaken by the applicant in the format as prescribed under the rules made under section 18;
(c) the details of expenditure incurred;
(d) the numbers of man days for which the work was undertaken; and
(e) the justification for the additional period required to complete the prospecting work.
(2) The State Government shall send an acknowledgement of receipt of the renewal application to the holder of the prospecting licence in Schedule II within a period of three days of receipt thereof.
(3) Applications for renewal of prospecting licence under sub-rule (1) shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of rupees one thousand per square kilometre on a pro rata basis of the area over which the renewal of the prospecting licence is applied for.
(4) The State Government may condone delay in submission of an application for renewal of a prospecting licence made after the expiry of the time limit prescribed in sub-rule (1):
Provided that the application for the renewal has been made before the expiry of the prospecting licence.
(5) An application for the renewal of a prospecting licence shall be disposed of by the State Government before the expiry of the period of prospecting licence.