Amendments to regulations on granting and re-granting mineral mining licenses.

(Chinhphu.vn) - The Government has issued Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 193/2025/ND-CP dated July 2, 2025, which details a number of articles and measures for the implementation of the Law on Geology and Minerals and details the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Geology and Minerals.

Amendments to regulations on granting and re-granting mineral mining licenses.

Supplementing regulations on granting mining licenses.

The list of mineral resources in groups I, II, III, and IV is specified in Appendix I issued with Decree No. 193/2025/ND-CP.

Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP amends and supplements Article 61 of Decree No. 193/2025/ND-CP regulating the granting of mineral exploitation licenses. Specifically, Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP adds regulations on the conditions for granting licenses to exploit Group III minerals used as common construction materials to serve the works and projects specified in points a, b, c, d, and e of Clause 1a, Article 55 of the Law on Geology and Minerals.

Regarding the issuance of mining licenses, Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP stipulates the following:

1. Organizations and individuals will be considered for a mining license when they meet the conditions stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 53 of the Law on Geology and Minerals and the following conditions:

a) Being an organization or individual with the legal right to use information and results of mineral exploration;

b) Possess the financial capacity to implement the mineral exploitation investment project as prescribed in Article 55 of Decree No. 193/2025/ND-CP;

c) Having received approval or a decision on investment policy from a state agency or competent authority for a mineral exploitation investment project in cases where the law on investment, public investment, or investment under the public-private partnership method requires it; except for cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

d) The results of the environmental impact assessment report have been approved by a state agency or competent authority, or an environmental permit has been issued in accordance with the law on environmental protection; except for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

d) Having received written opinions from state agencies or competent authorities regarding the results of the safety assessment report in accordance with the law on atomic energy for cases requesting the exploitation of radioactive minerals or minerals containing accompanying radioactive substances; except for cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Organizations and individuals considered for the issuance of licenses to exploit Group III minerals for use as common construction materials to serve the works and projects specified in points a, b, c, d, and e of Clause 1a, Article 55 of the Law on Geology and Minerals must meet the following conditions:

a) The conditions stipulated in Clause 1a of Article 53 and Clause 1b of Article 55 of the Law on Geology and Minerals;

b) Conditions stipulated in point a, clause 1 of this Article;

c) Investment project dossiers for mineral exploitation must include information on safety techniques, environmental protection, and deposits for environmental remediation and restoration during mineral exploitation.

Application for a mining license

Regarding the application dossier, Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP stipulates that the application dossier for a mineral exploitation license in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be prepared in one set, including:

- Application for a mining license (original copy);

- Maps of the mineral mining area, related maps, cross-sections, and design drawings (original copies);

- Feasibility study report or equivalent document to the feasibility study report of the mineral exploitation investment project (certified copy);

- An approved environmental impact assessment report or an environmental permit proposal report that has been granted an environmental permit in accordance with the law on environmental protection (a valid copy).

The application dossier for a mining license in the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall be prepared in one set, including:

- Application for a mining license (original copy);

- Maps of the mineral mining area, related maps, cross-sections, and design drawings (original copies);

- The plan regarding technical safety and environmental protection in accordance with regulations (original copy).

Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP clearly states that for areas requesting mining licenses for Group II and Group III minerals located in the territory of two or more provincial-level administrative units, the organization or individual requesting the mining license shall carry out the licensing procedures in the locality where the mining area occupies the largest proportion of the total area. The People's Committee of the province where the organization or individual submits the application for the mining license is responsible for obtaining the opinions of the People's Committees of the provinces whose administrative boundaries fall within the mining area before granting the mining license.

State agencies and competent authorities that issue mining licenses as prescribed above shall carry out the renewal, re-issuance, adjustment, exchange, revocation of mining licenses, transfer of mining rights, and closure of mineral mines for previously issued mining licenses.

Amendments to the conditions for renewing mining licenses.

At the same time, Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP also amends and supplements Clause 1, Article 63 of Decree No. 193/2025/ND-CP by revising the conditions for re-issuing mineral exploitation licenses.

According to the new regulations, organizations and individuals will be considered for the renewal of their mineral exploitation licenses when they meet the following conditions:

a) When the mineral exploitation period has expired or has been extended but the license has expired, and the permitted exploitation area still has reserves; or when an organization or individual submits an application for extension or re-issuance of a mineral exploitation license after the license has expired, and the permitted exploitation area still has reserves;

b) Having fulfilled the obligations stipulated in point a, clause 2, Article 59 of the Law on Geology and Minerals and not violating any obligations of the law on minerals to the extent of being prosecuted for criminal liability with respect to the previously granted mineral exploitation license;

c) Having the results of the environmental impact assessment report approved or environmental permits issued by the competent state agency or person in accordance with the law on environmental protection (if any);

d) The provincial People's Committee must confirm the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated in point b above up to the time of requesting the re-issuance of the license for mineral exploitation licenses under the authority of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment ;

d) The competent authority that appraised the basic design or construction drawings must give written approval to the adjustments compared to the basic design in the feasibility study report or the construction drawings in the economic -technical report of the construction investment, as prescribed by the law on construction.

Decree No. 21/2026/ND-CP takes effect from January 16, 2026.

Phuong Nhi

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/sua-doi-quy-dinh-ve-cap-cap-lai-giay-phep-khai-thac-khoang-san-10226011917162106.htm