PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 298--JUNE 28,1944 saw Nations of Indians on the books of the Treasury of the United States, and thereafter such proceeds shall be distributed to such Indians in pursuance with the terms and provisions of such contract and shall be exempted from attorney fees and other debt contracted prior to the passage and approval of this Act; and conveyance. (b) The Secretary shall cause a proper conveyance to be executed by the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation and the governor of the Chickasaw Nation conveying all right, title, and interest of said Indians in such lands and mineral deposits to the United States, and thereupon, all such right, title, and interest shall vest in the United States. thA 1priations an " The appropriation of such sum as may be necessary for making the payments to such Indians pursuant to section 2 (a) of this Act is hereby authorized. There is also authorized to be appropriated the sum of $20,000 to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to defray the expenses of negotiating the contract and holding of the election authorized by section 1 hereof, including the making of such appraisal or appraisals as may be deemed necessary. Land ap mineral The land and mineral deposits when acquired heretiider shall become part of the public domain subject to the applicable public land mining and mineral leasing laws. The coal deposits acquired hereunder may be leased in accordance with the provisions relating 1830u1.8 . .s np to coal of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. is s 27. 437), as amended. The asphalt deposits acquired hereunder may be Asptdepoits. leased by the Secretary of the Interior through advertisement, com- petitive bidding, or such other methods as he may by general regu- lations prescribe, and in areas not exceeding six hundred and forty e acres each. Leases for such asphalt deposits shall be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease, not less than 25 cents per ton of two thousand pounds of marketable production, and upon payment in advance of a rental of 25 cents per acre for the first calendar year or fraction thereof; 50 cents per acre for the second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respec- tively; and $1 per acre per annum thereafter during the continuance of the lease, such rental for any lease year to be credited against royalties accruing for that year. Leases for such asphalt deposits shall be for a period of twenty years, with preferential right in the lessee to renew the same for successive periods of ten years upon such reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise provided by law at the expiration of such periods. All asphalt leases issued hereunder shall be subject to such further terms and conditions, not inconsistent herewith, as may be incorporated in each lease or prescribed by gen- eral regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Interior prior to the issuance of the lease, including covenants relative to mining methods, waste, period of preliminary development, initial invest- ment, and minimum production. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to modify or amend as to area any asphalt lease issued hereunder upon application of the lessee if he finds such modification or amendment to be to the best interests of the United States and of 30U. s.c . iz, 48. the lessee. The general provisions of sections 1, 27, 29 to 34, inclu- 1 94; supp. m , sive, 37, and 38 of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920 1a (41 Stat. 437), as amended, shall apply to asphalt leases issued under 30ou. 8.o. 22 ,48. the provisions of this Act, sections 1, 34, and 37 thereof being Is1,2,193. amended to include deposits of asphalt acquired hereunder, and sec- 3ou. .c. . S 4; tion 27 thereof being amended to provide that no person, association, BUPP. IIA118 .1 or corporation shall take or hold more than two thousand five hun- dred and sixty acres under asphalt lease at any one time. The entire [58 STAT.
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