Mozambique Mining for success
Taciana Peão Lopes, Paulo Ferreira and Márcio Paulo of Couto Graça & Associados explain the attractions and challenges of investment in Mozambique’s mining sector
M
ining activities in Mozambique are regulated by a number of legal instruments: Law No 14/2002 of June 26 2002 (the Mining Law itself); Decree No 62/2006 of December 26 2006 (implementing regulations for the Mining Law); Law No 11/2007 of June 27 2007,
which updates the taxation regime for mining activities; Law No 13/2007 of June 27 2007, which estab- lishes tax incentives for mining activities; Decree No 5/2008 of April 9 2008, which regulates specific taxes for mining activities; Decree No 26/2004 of August 20 2004, which regulates environmental matters for mining activities; Decree No 20/2011 of June 1 2011, which approves the Regulation for the Commercialisation of mineral products; Decree No 63/2011 of December 7 2011, which approves the Regulation for the contracting of foreign citizens in the petroleum and mining sectors; and Diploma Ministerial No 189/2006 of December 14 2006, which establishes rules for the environmental manage- ment of mining activities. Meanwhile the supervising entity for the mining sector in Mozambique is the Ministry of Mineral
Resources (Mirem) which supervises the application of the government mining legislation through its sub- divisions, in particular the National Directorate of Mines. Under the Mozambique Constitution, all min- erals found in Mozambique are the property of the government. Mirem has the power to grant rights of use and exploitation of mineral resources to Mozambican and
foreign citizens by issuing various licences. The first is a licence for reconnaissance, which may be granted to Mozambique or foreign individuals
or companies for a non-renewable period of two years; the licence area may not exceed 100,000 hectares. A licence for exploration may be granted to Mozambique or foreign individuals or companies for a
period of five years, with the licence area not exceeding 25,000 hectares. Each such licence may be renewed for one further period of five years. A mining concession may only be granted to corporate entities and is granted for the life period of the mine, but may not exceed the maximum initial period of 25 years (renewable for a further 25 years). In contrast, a mining certificate is a title allowing for small-scale exploitation of mineral resources. The mining certificate may be issued for a maximum period of two years, renewable for successive periods of not more than two years, as long as this is justified by the ongoing mining activity. A mining pass is a permit allowing for small-scale mining activity in designated areas. A designated
area for a mining pass may be declared wherever appropriate for the use of unsophisticated exploration, extraction and processing methods and must take into account the nature and characteristics of the area. A mining pass may be granted for a term of 12 months and may be renewed for the same period. Finally, the government may, exceptionally and taking into account the size of the undertaking, enter
into a mining contract with the holder of an exploration licence or mining concession. Mining legislation states that a titleholder may request the transfer of a mining title by submitting the
appropriate application form to the National Directorate of Mines, for the attention of the Minister of Mirem.
General rights and obligations Mining legislation gives title holders, regardless of the type of mining title, rights: to have access to the area subject to exploration; to explore, on an exclusive basis, the mineral resources covered by the mining title and undertake all operations and work necessary to achieve this objective; to explore the associated mineral resources that may be found in the area of the mining title; to collect, remove and export samples and specimens not exceeding acceptable limits for exploration purposes, in accordance with the standards and criteria defined in the Regulations; to conduct sampling and trial processing of the ore without exceeding acceptable limits for the determination of the mining potential; to sell, subject to authorisation, specimens and samples obtained for the purposes of prospecting or for sampling and trial processing; to occupy the land and erect temporary facilities, camps, buildings or structures necessary for carrying out
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Rights to all land in Mozambique are vested in the government
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