MOZAMBIQUE Law and Practice Contributed by: João Afonso Fialho, Guilherme Daniel and Helna Vitoldás, VdA
Mining certificate Mining certificates are issued for small-scale artisanal mining activities and are awarded to Mozambican nationals, whether natural or legal persons with proven technical and financial capacity, for a period of ten years (renewable for additional ten-year periods). Small-scale mining operations are considered to be those that: • in the case of the extraction of mineral resources for construction purposes, do not exceed gross annual production of 100,000 tonnes; • in the case of exploration for precious metals, do not exceed gross annual production of 12 kg; • in the case of gems, do not exceed gross annual production of 250 kg; and • do not have underground works of more than 20 m deep, or galleries of more than 50 m in length, and employ 15 workers or less on the production front. Mining pass Mining passes are also issued for small-scale artisanal mining activities and are awarded in designated areas to Mozambican nationals, whether natural or legal persons with proven technical and financial capacity, for a period of five years (renewable for additional five-year periods) for the direct benefit of the communi - ties. Mineral handling licence Mineral handling licences allow activities to be carried out to recover useful constituents of ore in order to turn them into usable or profitable mineral products by physical processes, exclud - ing industrial processing. These are awarded to legal persons with technical and financial capacity that are incorporated and registered in Mozambique. They are awarded for a period
activities to assess the potential of mineral resources, with the aim of discovering, identi - fying, and determining the characteristics and economic value of the respective minerals. Pros - pecting and exploration licences are granted for two years in the case of construction minerals (renewable for an additional two-year period) for an area not exceeding 198 hectares, and five years for other minerals (renewable for an addi - tional three-year period) for an area not exceed - ing 19,998 hectares. Requests for extensions should be submitted at least 60 days prior to the due date of the licence (a fee is charged if the application is made less than 60 days prior to the due date). Mining concession A mining concession, which may or may not follow a prospecting and exploration licence, is awarded to a legal person with technical and financial capacity that is incorporated and regis - tered in Mozambique. Mining concessions allow holders to carry out operations and works related to the development, extraction, treatment, pro - cessing, as well as disposal of mineral products. These are granted for 25 years (renewable for a further 25 years, not exceeding 50 years in total). Requests for extensions should be submitted at least 365 days prior to the due date of the concession (a fee is charged if the application is made less than 365 days prior to the due date). Before commencing extraction activities in the awarded area, the holder of the mining conces - sion is required to obtain: • an environmental licence; • the right to use and exploit the land (known as “DUAT”); and • approval of a resettlement and compensation plan for the communities affected by the min - ing activities (if applicable).
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