Chương VII Luật khoáng sản 2010: Thăm dò khoáng sản

Chapter VII

MINERAL EXPLORATION

Article 34. Organizations and individuals eligible for conducting mineral exploration

1. Organizations and individuals having registered mineral exploration as their business line may be licensed to conduct mineral exploration. They include:

a/ Enterprises established under the Enterprise Law;

h/ Cooperatives and unions of cooperatives established under the Law on Cooperatives;

c/ Foreign enterprises with Vietnam-based representative offices or branches.

2. Business households having registered mineral exploration as their business line may be licensed to explore minerals for use as common construction materials.

Article 35. Conditions on mineral exploration practice organizations

1. A mineral exploration practice organization must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being lawfully established;

b/ Having an employee in charge of technical matters who possesses a university degree in geological exploration and has worked for at least five years in mineral exploration and a deep knowledge about standards and technical regulations on mineral exploration;

c/ Having a staff of technical workers specialized in geological exploration, hydrogeology, engineering geology, geophysics, drilling, excavation and other relevant disciplines;

d/ Having necessary special-use equipment and instruments for the construction of mineral exploration works.

2. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall specify conditions for mineral exploration practice.

Article 36. Selection of organizations and individuals to conduct mineral exploration

1. Competent state management agencies shall select organizations and individuals to be licensed for exploration of minerals in areas in which the mining right is not subject to auction.

2. The Government shall specify the selection of organizations and individuals to conduct mineral exploration.

Article 37. Selection of areas for elaboration of mineral exploration schemes

Organizations and individuals specified in Article 34 of this Law that wish to explore minerals may conduct field surveys and take surface specimens to serve the selection of areas for elaboration of mineral exploration projects after obtaining written approval of the provincial-level People's Committees of localities in which the to-be-explored areas are located.

Article 38. Mineral exploration areas

1. A mineral exploration area shall be delimited by lines connecting corner points, drawn on a topographic map using the national coordinate system of an appropriate scale.

2. The size of an exploration area under a specific exploration license for a kind or group of minerals is stipulated as follows:

a/ Not exceeding 50 square kilometers (km2), for gemstone, semi-gemstone and metallic minerals, except bauxite;

b/ Not exceeding 100 square kilometers (km2), for coal, bauxite and non-metallic minerals on land, with or without water surface, except minerals to be used as common construction materials;

c/ Not exceeding 200 square kilometers (km2), for minerals of all kinds in the continental shelf, except minerals to be used as common construction materials;

d/ Not exceeding 2 square kilometers (km2) on land or 1 square kilometer (km2) in water surface areas, for minerals to be used as common construction materials;

e/ Not exceeding 2 square kilometers (km2), for mineral water and natural thermal water.

3. An exploration area must completely cover the mineral body and geological structures of prospect for the minerals to be explored.

Article 39. Mineral exploration projects

1. A mineral exploration project must have the following principal contents:

a/ An appropriate system of exploration methods to identify mineral deposit and quality, mining conditions and processing and utilization possibilities for all minerals discovered in the exploration area;

b/ The volume of exploration work, the quantity and kinds of specimens to be taken for analysis to ensure complete evaluation of natural resources as well as mineral deposit and quality according to the exploration objectives;

c/ Solutions for environmental protection and labor safety and sanitation during exploration.

d/ Deposit calculation methods;

e/ Solutions and schedule for the project implementation.

f/ Exploration cost estimate based on unit prices set by competent state management agencies.

2. Mineral exploration projects must be appraised before licensing under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's regulations.

Article 40. Principles and conditions for granting mineral exploration licenses

1. Mineral exploration licenses are granted on the following principles:

a/ Mineral exploration licenses shall be granted only for areas in which no organization or individual is lawfully conducting mineral exploration or mining and which are not banned or temporarily banned from mineral activities, national mineral reserves areas or areas in which geological baseline surveys are being conducted for minerals of the same kind of minerals being applied for;

b/ Each organization or individual shall be granted no more than 5 mineral exploration licenses, excluding the expired ones; the to-be-explored total area for a specific mineral under all licenses must not exceed 2 times the exploration area under a single license prescribed in Clause 2, Article 38 of this Law.

2. To be granted mineral exploration licenses, organizations and individuals must meet the following conditions:

a/ Being selected by competent state management agencies under Article 36 of this Law or having won auctions for mineral mining rights in unexplored areas under this Law; organizations and individuals that are ineligible for mineral exploration practice under in Clause 1, Article 35 of this Law must sign contracts with eligible organizations defined in Clause 1, Article 35 of this Law;

b/ Having an exploration project conformable with the mineral master plans; having obtained the Prime Minister's written permission, for toxic minerals;

c/ Having an equity capital at least equal to 50% of the total investment capital for the implementation of the mineral exploration project.

3. Business households defined in Clause 2. Article 34 of this Law may explore minerals for use as common construction materials if they fully meet the conditions set by the Government

Article 41. Mineral exploration licenses

1/ A mineral exploration license must contain the following principal details:

a/ Name of the exploring organization or individual;

b/ Kind of mineral, location and size of the exploration area;

c/ Method and volume of exploration;

d/ Exploration duration;

e/ Financial and other relevant obligations.

2. A mineral exploration license is valid for 48 months at most and may be extended multiple times for a total maximum duration of 48 months. Upon each extension, the licensed organization or individual shall return at least 30% of exploration area stated in the granted license.

The exploration duration includes the time for implementing a mineral exploration project, time for submitting mineral deposit for approval and time for formulating a mining investment project. In case an organization or individual licensed lor exploring minerals transfers the mineral exploration right to another, the exploration duration is the remaining period of the previously granted mineral exploration license.

Article 42. Rights and obligations of organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals

1. Organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals have the following rights:

a/ To use mineral-related information pertaining to the exploration purpose and area;

b/ To conduct exploration according to the mineral exploration license;

c/ To take away from the exploration area, even abroad, specimens with volume and types suitable to the characteristics and requirements of analyses and experiments under the approved exploration project;

d/ To be prioritized to obtain a license for exploring minerals in the exploration area under Clause 1, Article 45 of this Law;

e/ To request extension of the mineral exploration license, to return it or return part of the exploration area;

f/ To transfer the mineral exploration right;

g/ To lodge complaints or lawsuits against decisions revoking the mineral exploration license or other decisions of competent state agencies;

h/ Other rights provided by law.

2. Organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals have the following obligations:

a/ To pay a licensing fee and fulfill other financial obligations provided by law;

b/ To strictly comply with the mineral exploration license and implement the approved exploration project;

c/ To report to the licensing agency for consideration and approval changes in exploration methods or volumes which result in an increase of over 10% in estimated expenses;

d/ To compensate for damage caused by exploration activities;

e/ To notify the exploration plan to the provincial-level People's Committee of the locality in which they will conduct mineral exploration before implementation;

f/ To collect and store mineral-related information and report exploration results to state management agencies in charge of minerals; and report other activities to competent state agencies under law;

g/ To perform all the jobs specified in Clause 3, Article 46 of this Law when the mineral exploration license expires;

h/ Other obligations provided by law.

Article 43. Transfer of the mineral exploration right

1. Transferees of the mineral exploration right must satisfy all the conditions for the grant of mineral exploration licenses under this Law.

2. Transfer of the mineral exploration right must be approved by a state management agency competent to grant mineral exploration licenses. After obtaining such approval, transferees of the mineral exploration right may be granted new mineral exploration licenses.

3. To transfer the mineral exploration right, an organization or individual must have performed at least 50% of the cost estimate of the mineral exploration project.

4. The Government shall detail the transfer of the mineral exploration right.

Article 44. Exploration of toxic minerals

In addition to the obligations specified in Clause 2, Article 42 of this Law, organizations and individuals exploring toxic minerals shall take measures to prevent environmental pollution and adverse impacts on human health. If having caused environmental pollution, they shall identify all polluting factors, and take measures to remedy and reduce pollution. If exploring toxic minerals which contain radioactive substances, they shall also comply with the Law on Atomic Energy and other relevant laws.

Article 45. Priority right of organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals

1. Organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals in areas not subject to auction of the mining right are prioritized to obtain mining licenses for approved mineral deposits within 6 months after the expiration of their mineral exploration licenses.

Past the priority period specified in this Clause, if not applying for a mining license for the exploration area, the organizations and individuals licensed for exploring minerals will lose the priority right.

2. In case competent state management agencies grant mining licenses to other organizations or individuals, before obtaining mining licenses, these organizations and individuals shall reimburse exploration expenses corresponding to the licensed deposits to the organizations and individuals that have conducted the exploration.

Article 46. Revocation and invalidation of mineral exploration licenses

1. A mineral exploration license will be revoked in the following cases:

a/ The organization or individual licensed for exploring minerals fails to conduct exploration within 6 months since the effective date of the license, unless it is due to force majeure circumstances;

b/ The organization or individual licensed for exploring minerals fails to fulfill any of the obligations specified at Points a, b, c, d, e and f, Clause 2, Article 42 of this Law without taking remedies within 90 days after the date of written notice by a competent state management agency in charge of minerals;

c/ The area permitted for exploration is declared to be banned or temporarily banned from mineral activities.

2. A mineral exploration license will be invalidated in any of the following cases:

a/ It is revoked; b/ It expires; c/ It is returned;

d/ The licensed organization or individual dissolves or goes bankrupt.

3. Within 6 months after the mineral exploration license is invalidated under Point a, b or c, Clause 2 of this Article, the organization or individual licensed for exploring minerals shall remove all assets of its/his/her own and related parties from the exploration area; level exploration works, protect mineral resources, restore the environment and rehabilitate the soil', and hand over all collected mineral specimens and information to a competent state management agency in charge of minerals. This provision is not applicable to those applying for mineral exploration license extension or mining licenses.

Article 47. Dossiers of application for, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses, return of part of the exploration area, or transfer of the mineral exploration right

1. A dossier of application for a mineral exploration license comprises:

a/ An application for a mineral exploration license;

b/ An exploration project in conformity with the master plans specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 10 of this Law;

c/ A map of the exploration area;

d/ Art environmental protection commitment, in case of exploration of toxic minerals;

e/ A copy of the business registration certificate; for a foreign enterprise, a copy of the decision establishing its Vietnam-based representative office or branch is also required;

f/ A document certifying the applicant's equity Capital under Point c, Clause 2, Article 40 of this Law;

g/ A document certifying the winning of the mineral exploration right for unexplored areas, in case of winning the mining right through auction.

2. A dossier for extension of a mineral exploration license comprises:

a/ An application for extension of a mineral exploration license;

b/ A report on exploration results; and a plan for further exploration;

c/ A map of the exploration area, excluding at least 30% of the area explored under the granted license.

3. A dossier for return of a mineral exploration license or return of part of the exploration area comprises:

a/ An application for return of a mineral exploration license or return of part of the exploration area;

b/ A report on exploration results;

c/ A map of the exploration area and a plan for further exploration, in case of return of part of the exploration area.

4. A dossier for transfer of the mineral exploration right comprises:

a/An application for transfer of the mineral exploration right;

b/ A contract on transfer of the mineral exploration right;

c/ A report on exploration results and fulfilled obligations by the time of application;

d/ A copy of the transferee's business registration certificate; for a foreign enterprise, a copy of the decision establishing its Vietnam-based representative office or branch is also required.

Article 48. Procedures for grant, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses, or return of part of the exploration area

1. Applicants for grant, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses or return of part of the exploration area shall submit dossiers at competent licensing state management agencies defined in Article 82 of this Law.

2. The time limit for processing dossiers for grant, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses or return of part of the exploration area is specified as follows:

a/ Ninety days after receiving complete and valid dossiers, for dossiers of application for mineral exploration licenses;

b/ Forty-five days after receiving complete and valid dossiers, for dossiers for extension or return of mineral exploration licenses or return of part of the exploration area.

3. When necessary to consult concerned agencies and organizations on matters related to the grant, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses or return of part of the exploration area, the time for seeking consultations is not included in the time limit specified at Point a or b, Clause 2 of this Article.

4. The Government shall detail procedures for the grant, extension or return of mineral exploration licenses or return of part of the exploration area.

Article 49. Approval of mineral deposits

1. Competence to approve mineral deposits is provided as follows:

a/ The National Council for Assessment of Mineral Deposits may approve mineral deposits falling within the licensing competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Government shall stipulate the organization and operation of the National Council for Assessment of Mineral Deposits;

b/ Provincial-level People's Committees may approve mineral deposits falling within their licensing competence.

2. Organizations and individuals that explore minerals falling within the licensing competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall submit reports on exploration results enclosed with mineral deposit-approving decisions to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Organizations and individuals that explore minerals falling within the licensing competence of provincial-level People's Committees shall submit reports on exploration results enclosed with mineral deposit-approving decisions to provincial-level People's Committees and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

3. Procedures for submitting reports on mineral exploration results comply with the law on archives.

Article 50. Procedures for appraisal and approval of mineral deposits

1. A dossier for approval of mineral deposits comprises:

a/ An application for approval of mineral deposits;

b/ Copies of the exploration plan and mineral exploration license;

c/ A takeover test record of the volume and quality of exploration works already built;

d/ A report on exploration results, enclosed with annexes, drawings and relevant original documents and their digitized files,

2. The time limit for appraising and approving mineral deposits is 6 months after receiving complete and valid dossiers.

3. The Government shall stipulate procedures for appraisal and approval of mineral deposits.