Inadequacies in mineral exploitation - Lang Son Newspaper and Radio and Television Station

Stone trucks of Thanh Dong Trading and Development Company Limited (Vinh Thinh quarry, Dong Tan commune, Huu Lung district) pass through the weighing station installed by the company (photo taken in May 2025)

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment (DARD), the province currently has 57 valid mineral exploitation licenses (equivalent to 57 mines). The main ones are mineral exploitation for common construction materials (48 mines) with an exploitation capacity of more than 6 million m3/year, concentrated in some districts: Huu Lung, Chi Lang, Cao Loc...

Mr. Trinh Tuan Anh, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Huu Lung district, said: The district currently has 25 mineral mines licensed for mining operations. From 2020 to present, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has implemented many solutions to manage mineral exploitation activities in the area. In particular, the unit focuses on propagating, guiding and supporting enterprises to urgently install weighing stations and surveillance cameras according to regulations. As a result, up to now, the district has 22/25 mines that have installed weighing stations and surveillance cameras; some mines have been licensed but have temporarily stopped or have not yet operated, so the department is guiding enterprises to install them. However, currently, the law does not stipulate that data from weighing stations and surveillance cameras at installed mines must be transmitted directly to state management agencies for monitoring and tracking. This also causes difficulties in state management of mineral exploitation activities in the area.

Similarly, Chi Lang is also a district with many advantages in mineral exploitation. The whole district currently has 4 mines in operation, of which 3 have installed weighing stations and surveillance cameras to ensure compliance with regulations; 1 new mine has been licensed by the competent authority and is being propagated and instructed by the specialized department to install weighing stations.

Mr. Duong Trong Hieu, Deputy Director in charge of Dong Mo Stone Joint Stock Company, Dong Mo town, Chi Lang district said: According to regulations, since 2016 the company has installed weighing stations and surveillance cameras. Thanks to that, the management of production and business activities of the enterprise is more convenient. Information of each vehicle such as: weight, volume, license plate number... when passing through the weighing station is accurately determined and automatically stored on the hard drive of the computer to serve management, statistics, monthly reporting to state management agencies or to serve the reporting of inspection and examination teams of functional agencies.

According to statistics, the province currently has 50/57 mines that have installed weighing stations and basic surveillance cameras in accordance with regulations; the remaining mines have not installed because they are not yet in operation or have temporarily stopped mining.

According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 42 of Decree No. 158 dated November 29, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Minerals, it is stipulated that: "Organizations and individuals exploiting minerals, except for business households, must install a weighing station at the location where raw minerals are taken out of the mining area". In reality, installing a weighing station at the location where raw minerals are taken out of the mining area is difficult due to land issues related to the blasting process. Therefore, in the past, most enterprises placed weighing stations in inappropriate locations according to regulations.

On January 11, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 10/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of decrees in the field of minerals, effective from March 1, 2025; accordingly, it stipulates: “Organizations and individuals exploiting minerals, except for business households, must install weighing stations, measuring devices or other methods to determine and control the actual mineral output before transporting it out of the mining project area. With this amended regulation, mining enterprises have installed weighing stations in accordance with current regulations.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Truc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said: Up to now, enterprises have basically complied with the regulations on installing weighing stations and placing weighing stations and surveillance cameras in the correct locations. However, information, data, and images at weighing stations and cameras have not been transmitted directly to state management agencies for monitoring and management. The operation of weighing stations and surveillance cameras at mines is currently only monitored by state management agencies through actual inspections at the mines. This causes difficulties in monitoring and managing the exploitation and transportation of minerals for consumption. In order to strengthen the monitoring of mining output and avoid loss of resources, in the coming time, based on the Law on Geology and Minerals (effective from July 1, 2025), the Department of Agriculture and Environment will advise and propose to the Provincial People's Committee to develop a project on a management system for monitoring mineral weighing stations in Lang Son province to connect according to regulations.

The information, data and image systems from weighing stations and cameras at mineral mining operations have not yet been transmitted or connected to state management agencies, showing that the installation of weighing stations and surveillance cameras has not yet been fully effective. In reality, there are still overloaded mineral transport vehicles that damage the road surface, affecting the lives and activities of people living near the area. In the coming time, the provincial authorities and the People's Committees of the districts need to continue to pay attention to investing in building a system to manage and monitor mineral weighing stations, thereby creating synchronization and promoting effectiveness in state management of the mineral sector in the area.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/lap-tram-can-va-camera-giam-sat-tai-cac-mo-khoang-san-chua-phat-huy-het-hieu-qua-5046026.html