ZAMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harriet Mdala, Natasha Lungu, Samuel Muleya and Chanda Musonda-Chiluba, MAY and Company
Additionally, Section 17 of the Mines Act grants the government the authority to acquire mining rights for purposes of government investment in designated areas. The Section outlines a frame - work allowing the government to reserve spe - cific areas for investment by acquiring mining rights. These areas are protected from applica - tions by private individuals or entities, ensuring exclusivity for government-led projects. Rights obtained under this provision are then allocated to government investment companies, ensuring Article 16 of the Constitution of Zambia recog - nises the right to property. Specifically, Article 16(u) and (x) of the Constitution provide that property can, among other things, consist of any licence or permit. It also provides that it can be any mineral, mineral oil or natural gases or any rights accruing by virtue of any title or licence for the purpose of searching for or mining any mineral, mineral oil or natural gases. compliance with relevant laws. 1.5 Nature of Mineral Rights Mineral rights do therefore have the status as property and they derive from law under Arti - cle 16 of the Constitution and the Mines Act. Mining rights are therefore protected under the Constitution and any person deprived of these rights may be able to challenge the deprivation as being unconstitutional. 1.6 Granting of Mineral Rights In Zambia, the authority responsible for grant - ing mineral rights operates at the national level. Applications for mining rights are received and processed by the Mining Cadastre Office (the “MCO”), established under Section 8 of the Mines Act. However, the consideration and deci - sion-making on these applications are handled by the MLC, which is constituted under Section 6 of the Mines Act.
While the Mines Act envisions the establishment of regional mining cadastre offices to facilitate decentralised processing of mining applications, these offices have not been established as of 2024. Consequently, all applications are sub - mitted directly to the MCO in Lusaka for initial processing before being forwarded to the MLC for approval. Notably, there is no overlap of jurisdiction at the national or provincial level in the granting of min - eral rights, as the process is centralised under the Mines Act. 1.7 Mining: Security of Tenure In Zambia, the framework for security of tenure in the mining sector is established under the Mines Act. It provides a structured system for granting, maintaining, and enforcing mining rights, ensur - ing stability and predictability for investors while safeguarding national interests. Validity of Mining and Other Licences Exploration licence An exploration licence is valid for an initial period of four years. On its expiry, it may be renewed for two further periods not exceeding three years each but the maximum period from initial grant of the licence will not exceed ten years. At each renewal, a holder of an exploration licence is required to relinquish at least 50% of the explo - ration area. An application for renewal must be made six months before the expiry of the licence. Mining licence There are three types of mining licences: artisa - nal, small-scale and large-scale. Artisanal mining can only be undertaken by citizens.
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