CAMEROON Law and Practice Contributed by: Aurélie Chazai, Paul Ariel Kombou, Vanina Fonga and Dylan Dave Tchouankeu, Chazai Wamba
Status of Mineral Rights as Property These rights do not grant full ownership of the resource in situ; the resource remains the property of the State. However, holders of valid mining titles acquire enforceable mining rights and become own - ers of the minerals only once they have been lawfully extracted, subject to compliance with regulatory obli - gations, including environmental, tax and operational requirements. 1.6 Granting of Mineral Rights In Cameroon, mineral rights are granted by the State through administrative acts, not contracts. These rights generally take the form of authorisation and permit. Granting authority depends on the nature and scale of the mining activity: For artisanal mining, an artisanal mining card and an artisanal mining authorisation are granted by the mayor of the municipality concerned, after the pri - or favourable opinion of the territorially competent Departmental Delegate of the Ministry of Mines (the “Delegate”), Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT) (Articles 3 et seq, Decree No 05062). How - ever, the authorisation cannot be granted within an active exploration permit area without MINMIDT’s favourable opinion. Regarding the collection of precious and semi-pre - cious substances, a collector’s card is issued by SON - AMINES (Article 24, Decree No 5062). As for semi-mechanised artisanal mining, the exploita - tion authorisation is granted by order of the MINMIDT (Article 33, Decree No 5062). Concerning industrial mining, in Cameroon, the fol - lowing permits are issued: • reconnaissance permit – granted by MINMIDT; • exploration permit – granted by MINMIDT; • small-scale mining exploitation permit – granted by MINMIDT, after endorsement by the Prime Minister; and
• industrial mining exploitation permit – granted by Decree of the President of the Republic (Article 69, Decree No 5062). For spring water, mineral water, thermo-mineral water, and geothermal deposits, reconnaissance permits, exploitation permits, and packaging authorisations are granted by MINMIDT pursuant to the provisions of Decree No 5252. With regards to quarries, artisanal quarry authorisation is granted by the mayor, while MINMIDT grants the reconnaissance permit, industrial quarry permit and Artisanal mining rights are short-term but renewable, ensuring continuity as long as compliance is main - tained. • An artisanal miner’s card is valid for two years and renewable for the same period. It is strictly person - al, non-transferable and cannot be shared. • Artisanal mining authorisation is also valid for two years. The holder must submit semi-annual activity reports to the Mayor, with copies to the competent Delegate of MINMIDT and SONAMINES, detailing production volumes, estimated market value and workforce employed. Failure to comply may expose the title to sanction or withdrawal. • A collector’s card for precious and semi-precious minerals is valid for two years. Renewal applica - tions must be submitted to SONAMINES at least three months before expiry. In any event, municipalities are primarily responsi - ble for managing and monitoring artisanal activi - ties, in coordination with competent administrations. MINMIDT retains the right to conduct unannounced inspections pursuant to Article 31 (2) of Decree No 5062. public-interest quarry authorisation. 1.7 Mining: Security of Tenure Artisanal Mining For semi-mechanised artisanal mining, authorisa - tion is valid for two years. The holder must submit an
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