Removing obstacles in extending mineral exploitation licenses
Commenting on the draft Law on Geology and Minerals, Mr. Bui Minh Hoi - Deputy Director of Minh Tien Minerals Company Limited said: The current Law on Minerals states that "Organizations and individuals who are granted mineral exploitation licenses before the effective date of this Law shall continue to perform until the end of the term specified in the license", "In case of transferring mineral exploitation rights to other organizations and individuals, the exploitation term shall be the remaining time of the previously granted Mineral Exploitation License".
In addition, the transitional provisions of the 2010 Mineral Law stipulate: All cases of Mining Licenses issued before July 1, 2011 will be terminated upon expiration, without excluding cases that meet the conditions for extension.
Meanwhile, regarding the policy on mineral exploitation rights fees, Decree 67/2019/ND-CP stipulates: "Organizations and individuals who have completed the payment of mineral exploitation rights fees according to the mineral reserves allowed to be included in the exploitation design, the exploitation period according to the license has expired but the reserves have not been fully exploited, the remaining reserves will be given priority for extension of exploitation if eligible".
However, currently, Clause 2, Article 130. Transitional provisions in the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals still retain the same content as the current Law on Minerals. Therefore, Minh Tien Minerals Company Limited proposes to amend this provision in the Draft Law in the direction of adding cases of extension in the transitional conditions to facilitate the mining unit.
Sharing the same view with Minh Tien Minerals Company Limited, Mr. Pham Thai Hop, Deputy Director of Bien Hoa Construction and Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company, representative of the Southern Mining Association, said: Clause 1, Article 84. Transitional provisions of the current 2010 Minerals Law states: "Organizations and individuals who are granted mineral exploitation licenses before the effective date of this Law shall continue to do so until the end of the term specified in the license".
This content has not been specifically guided for implementation. Because if we only consider this transitional provision independently, it is implied that all cases of Mining Licenses issued before July 1, 2011 will be terminated when they expire, without excluding cases that are eligible for extension, while the 2010 Mineral Law and its implementing documents have provisions on the extension of mining licenses.
Currently, Clause 2, Article 130. The transitional provisions in the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals still retain the same content as the 2010 Law on Minerals. The Company finds it unnecessary to stipulate this transitional content, because this content is easily interpreted and applied in the direction: When the license expires, it will be terminated, the enterprise must close the mine for the State to auction. At the same time, this content is not consistent with the content on deep exploration and exploitation stipulated in Article 5, Article 72 and Article 74 of the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals.
Review of regulations on termination of mineral operation licenses
In addition to the shortcomings in extending mineral exploitation licenses, the regulations on cases of termination of mineral exploitation licenses are also a matter of great concern to businesses. Clause 2, Article 74 of the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals stipulates that cases where expired licenses are subject to revocation and termination. Similar to the above proposal, Bien Hoa Construction and Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company found that with this regulation, all cases of expired licenses will be terminated without excluding cases where extensions are allowed.
At the same time, when a mine is subject to revocation or termination, the State will put it up for auction in accordance with Clause 5, Article 74 of the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals.
Mr. Pham Thai Hop proposed to amend Clause 2, Article 74 to clearly stipulate that it only applies to cases where “the license expires without meeting the conditions for extension”. He explained that currently, all enterprises must pay the mineral exploitation right fee according to Decree 203/2013/ND-CP for the entire reserve allowed for exploitation, the completion deadline must be before 5 years (for licenses issued before January 20, 2014, the effective date of Decree 203/2013/ND-CP) or the first half of the license term (for licenses issued after January 20, 2014).
According to Mr. Hop, while the business's operations faced many difficulties, especially the decline in the consumption market, the output did not reach the licensed exploitation capacity. In addition, the agreement on compensation for site clearance with households and the land lease procedures were prolonged, leading to most cases where the exploitation license expired but the business had not yet fully exploited the reserves.
To resolve this issue, Decree 67/2019/ND-CP of the Government regulating the method of calculation and collection of fees for granting mineral exploitation rights has stipulated: "Organizations and individuals who have completed the payment of fees for granting mineral exploitation rights according to the mineral reserves allowed to be included in the exploitation design, the exploitation period according to the license has expired but the reserves have not been fully exploited, the remaining reserves are given priority for extension of exploitation...".
Bien Hoa Construction and Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company proposes to amend Clause 2, Article 74 of the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals as above to ensure fair rights for enterprises that have fulfilled their obligations to pay for mineral exploitation rights for licensed reserves. At the same time, it also ensures consistency with the provisions on deep exploration and exploitation in Articles 5, 72 and 74 of the Draft Law.
In response to the above recommendations, Mr. Mai The Toan, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Minerals Department, said that the Vietnam Minerals Department will study and supplement Clause 2, Article 130 of the Draft Law on Geology and Minerals: "In case there are still reserves and organizations and individuals have a need to continue exploiting, the extension of mineral exploitation licenses or re-issuance of mineral exploitation licenses shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Law."
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