(1)On the primary vesting date the rights and powers vested in the Coal Commission by section fifteen of the [1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 52.] Coal Act, 1938 (which relates to the use as therein mentioned of underground land) shall vest in the Board by virtue of this section and without further assurance, and accordingly, as from that date references in that section to the Coal Commission shall be construed as references to the Board ; and that section shall extend so as to confer on the Board, in relation to minerals other than coal, being minerals interests in which vest in the Board by virtue of section five of this Act or are otherwise acquired by them, the like rights and powers as respects operations for the like purposes as are mentioned in the said section fifteen.
(2)The Board shall be entitled for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 20 of the First Schedule to this Act to use land appearing to the Board to fall within that paragraph pending their decision as to the extent of the land required for those purposes to be acquired by option under section five of this Act and pending the taking effect of such an option when exercised, but subject to an obligation on the Board to pay proper compensation, of an amount to be determined in case of difference by arbitration under this Act, for such use and for any damage sustained in consequence of such use by the owner of any interest in the land used which is not subsequently vested in the Board pursuant to the exercise of such an option :
Provided that the Board shall have the option to make good any such damage to the reasonable satisfaction of the owner of any such interest in lieu of paying compensation for the damage.
(3)The Board shall be entitled, for the purposes of colliery production activities within the meaning of the First Schedule to this Act, to make, use and exercise the invention which is the subject of a patent a proprietary or other interest in which appears to them to fall within subsection (1) of section six of this Act or subsection (6) thereof, and to apply a registered design in the copyright in which such an interest appears to them so to fall, pending their decision as to the exercise by them of an option under that section with respect to the interest in question and pending the taking effect of such an option when exercised or (in the case of an option with respect to a proprietary interest) the grant of a licence in lieu of the vesting of the interest in them.
The exercise by the Board in any manner or for any purpose of the right conferred on them by this subsection shall, in a case in which the relevant interest in the patent or copyright is not subsequently vested in them pursuant to the exercise of such an option as aforesaid, be subject to an obligation on them to pay proper compensation, of an amount to be determined in case of difference by arbitration under this Act, to any person entitled during any period during which the right is exercised in that manner or for that purpose to authorise the exercise thereof in that manner or for that purpose.