18Disputes how to be determined
Any dispute between any miner and the purser, manager, or agent of a mine as to any money due to him, or claimed by him, may be heard and determined by a court of summary jurisdiction, and such court for the purposes of this Act shall be deemed to be a court of civil jurisdiction, and in a proceeding in relation to any such dispute the court may order payment of any sum which it may find to be due as wages, or damages, or otherwise, and such reasonable costs as the court may think fit: Provided that in any proceeding in relation to any such dispute the court of summary jurisdiction—
(1)shall not, except by consent, exercise any jurisdiction where the amount claimed exceeds twenty-five pounds; and
(2)shall not, except by consent, make an order for the payment of any sum exceeding twenty-five pounds exclusive of the costs incurred in the case.