ZAMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harriet Mdala, Natasha Lungu, Samuel Muleya and Chanda Musonda-Chiluba, MAY & Company
Validity of Mining and Other Licences Exploration licence
mission to inform the applicant when it rejects the renewal of the licence. The notice of rejection must state the reasons/grounds for the rejection. If the applicant is aggrieved by the Commission’s decision, the Mines Act provides an appellate process to the Mining Appeals Tribunal within 30 days of receipt of the rejection. Conversion of an Exploration Licence to a Mining Licence – Rights The Minerals Act does not grant an automatic right to a holder of an exploration licence to convert it to a mining licence. A party that seeks to convert an exploration licence to a mining licence must meet the requirements under the Minerals Act to apply for a mining right. These are as follows. • There are sufficient mineral deposits or resources to justify their commercial exploitation. • The area of land over which the licence is sought does not exceed the area required to carry out the proposed programme for mining operations. • The proposed programme of mining operations is adequate and complies with the decision letter in respect of the environmental project brief or is EIA approved by the Zambia Environmental Manage - ment Agency (ZEMA). • Consent is required for the area under any writ - ten law, and the applicant must have submitted evidence of that consent. • The standards of good mining practice and the applicant’s proposed programme for development, construction and mining operations in order to ensure the efficient and beneficial use of the min - eral resources for the area over which the licence is sought must have been met. • The applicant is not in breach of any condition of the exploration licence or any provision of the Mines Act. In respect of large-scale mining, some of the condi - tions are: • that the applicant has the financial resources and technical competence and the financing plan is compatible with the programme of mining opera - tions;
An exploration licence is valid for an initial period of four years. On its expiry, it may be renewed for two further and final periods of three years each. At each renewal, a holder of an exploration licence is required to relinquish at least 50% of the exploration area. However, a small-scale exploration licence is not renewable. An application for renewal must be made six months before the licence expires. Mining licence There are three types of mining licences: artisanal, small-scale and large-scale. Artisanal mining can only be undertaken by citizens. The validity periods are: • 3 years for artisanal mining; • 10 years for small-scale mining; and • 25 years for large-scale mining. Applications for renewal must be made three months before expiry for an artisanal mining licence, six months for a small-scale mining licence and one year for a large-scale mining licence. Mineral processing licence A mineral processing licence is valid for a period of 25 years and may be renewed for a similar period. Gold panning certificate A gold panning certificate is valid for two years (renew - able for a further two years). Mineral trading permit A mineral trading permit is valid for three years and is renewable. Mineral import and mineral export permits Mineral import and mineral export permits are valid for one year and limited to the quantities specified in the permit. The Minerals Act and the Mines and Minerals Devel - opment (General Regulations), 2016 require the Com -
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