Circular No. 45/2016/TT-BTNMT dated December 26, 2016 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on regulations on mineral exploration and mine closure projects, and templates of reports on mineral activities, required documents included in application for mineral operation license and application for approval for mineral reserves, and mine closure procedures

THE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Circular No.45/2016/TT-BTNMT dated December 26, 2016 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on regulations on mineral exploration and mine closure projects, and templates of reports on mineral activities, required documents included in application for mineral operation license and application for approval for mineral reserves, and mine closure procedures

Pursuant to the Law on Mineral No. 60/2010/QH12 dated November 17, 2010;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 on guidelines for the Law on Mineral;

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 21/2013/ND-CP dated March 04, 2013 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

At the request of Director of General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam and Director of Legal Department;

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promulgates Circular providing regulations on mineral exploration and mine closure projects, and templates of reports on mineral activities, documents required in application for mineral operation license and application for approval for mineral reserves, and mine closure procedures.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scopeof adjustment

This Circular deals with Clause 2 Article 39, Clause 2 Article 75 of the Law on Mineral; Clause 5 Article 7, Clause 3 Article 35, Clause 2 Article 45, Clause 4 Article 46, Clause 2 Article 57 of the Government’s Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 on guidelines for the Law on Minerals (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP).

Article 2.Subject of application

1. Regulatory authorities in mineral sector, mining industry and mineral processing sector, environmental protection authorities, regulatory authorities in charge of appraising and giving approval for mineral deposits, and other relevant authorities.

2. Organizations and individuals operating in mineral exploration and extraction sectors; organizations and individuals practicing in mineral exploration; organizations and individuals providing consultancy for formulating mineral exploration projects or mine closure projects.

Chapter II

MINERAL EXPLORATION PROJECT

Article 3. Contents of mineral exploration project

1. The formulation of mineral exploration project must base on the results of geological baseline surveys of minerals, including survey and geological documents of previous periods which are used as the basis for selection of mineral exploration area and object, or survey and sampling results in order to zone the area for which the mineral exploration project is formulated by the entity.

2. A mineral exploration project includes: Explanatory notes, appendixes and technical drawings.

3. The mineral exploration project must include main contents as regulated in Clause 1 Article 39 of the Law on Mineral and lay-out, contents of chapters and sections made according to the Template No. 01 stated in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 4. Contents to be appraised of mineral exploration project

1. The following contents of mineral exploration project must be appraised:

a) Location, coordinates, boundary and area of the region for which the mineral exploration license is applied for;

b) Legal grounds and existing geological and mineral documents which are used as the basis for selection of area and mineral type for which exploration license is applied for;

c) Basis for classification of mine groups according to their complexity, selection of network of works to explore and evaluate reserves level, combined technical methods, volume of various works, and types of analytical samples: Measures of taking, processing, analyzing, number of samples, estimated place for analyzing, and method to test analytical quality of basic sample;

d) Impacts of exploration activities on the environment, labour safety and handling measures, and the protection of minerals which are not yet extracted in course of exploration;

dd) Estimated norms to calculate mineral reserves, basis of reserves calculation method; estimated reserves and feasibility of reserves objective;

e) The rationality and the feasibility of the organization, schedule and progress of implementation of mineral exploration work items;

g) The correctness of cost estimates for exploration items in accordance with applicable regulations.

2. The procedures for appraisal of the mineral exploration project are carried out in accordance with regulations in Article 59 of the Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP.

Chapter III

MINE CLOSURE PROJECT; APPRAISAL AND APPROVAL FOR MINE CLOSURE PROJECT; CHECK AND ACCEPTANCE OF MINE CLOSURE PROJECT AND DECISION ON MINE CLOSURE

Article 5. Contents of mine closure project

1. A mine closure project includes: Explanatory notes, appendixes and enclosed drawings.

2. The lay-out and contents of chapters and sections of a mine closure project are prepared according to the Template No. 02 stated in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 6. Council for appraisal of mine closure project

1. Pursuant to regulations in Article 82 of the Law on Mineral and Clauses 1, 2 Article 45 of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or the People’s Committee of province or central-affiliated city (hereinafter referred to as Provincial-level People’s Committee) shall decide the establishment of the council for appraisal of mine closure project (hereinafter referred to as the appraisal council) under their competence in accordance with regulations of law.

2. The appraisal council prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article is comprised of at least 09 members, including: Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, 01 secretary, 02 criticizers and several members who are representatives of supervisory authorities, specialists and scientists in the fields of geology, mineral extraction and environment. To be specific:

a) The appraisal council that is established under decision of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment is comprised of: Chairperson who is the representative leader of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Deputy Chairperson who is the representative leader of General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam, Secretary who is the leader of an affiliate of the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam and is assigned to appraise the application for mine closure, and council s members who are representatives of relevant functional divisions of the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam, representatives of Vietnam Environment Administration, representatives of Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the province where the mine to be closed is located and specialists/ scientists in the fields of geology, mineral extraction and environment;

b) The appraisal council that is established under decision of the Provincial-level People’s Committee is comprised of: Chairperson who is the leader of the Provincial-level People’s Committee, Deputy Chairperson who is the representative leader of Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Secretary who is the leader of a division of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment and is assigned to appraise the application for mine closure, and council s members who are representatives of relevant functional divisions of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, representatives of the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade and the Provincial Department of Construction, representatives of the People’s Committee of District where the mine to be closed is located and several specialists/ scientists in the fields of geology, mineral extraction and environment.

3. The appraisal council shall operate in accordance with the Regulation on operation of the Council for appraisal of mine closure project promulgated by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 7. Procedures for appraisal and grant of approval for the mine closure project

1. The applicant for approval for mine closure shall submit the application to the application-receiving authority (hereinafter referred to as receiving authority) prescribed in Clauses 1, 3 Article 47 of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP; the documents required of the application, form and contents of the application are regulated in Article 56 of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP and in Article 5 herein.

2. Not later than 03 days as from the receipt of the application, the receiving authority shall verify it. If the application is sufficient and valid, the receiving authority shall give a receipt note to the applicant. In case the application is not sufficient or the application is sufficient but its required documents are not consistent with regulations of law, the receiving authority shall provide the applicant with written instructions on amendment to the application. The application is amended once only.

3. Not later than 10 days as from the date of the receipt note, the receiving authority must get ideas about the application from the council’s members, and invite a representative member of the council to join the on-site inspection (where necessary). In case the issuance of mining license is under the competence of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the application for approval for mine closure also requires the written ideas from the People’s Committee of province where the mine is located.

Not later than 15 days as from the receipt of the written request for consultation from the receiving authority, the consulted entities must reply the receiving authority in writing with ideas about the contents of the mine closure project and relevant matters. Over the said time limit, if the consulted entities do not send written response to the receiving authority, they are considered to have agreed upon the consulted matters.

4. The receiving authority shall, within 05 days from the receipt of written response from consulted entities, prepare and send consolidated report on received ideas to the Chairperson of the appraisal council to organize a council meeting.

The Chairperson of the appraisal council shall, within 07 days from the receipt of report from the receiving authority, decide time of the council meeting. The contents to be appraised of the mineral exploration project shall follow regulations in Clause 3 Article 45 of the Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP.

5. Not later than 06 days from the ending of the council meeting, the Chairperson of the appraisal council must complete the minutes of the council meeting. If the mine closure project requires further amendment or is not approved, the receiving authority shall give a written notification, enclosed with the minutes of the meeting of the appraisal council, to the applicant to provide explanation thereof.

The time limit for appraising the mine closure project is exclusive of the time for amending or re-making the mine closure project.

6. Submission of the mine closure project for approval:

a) If the mine closure project is approved by the appraisal council, the receiving authority shall, within 08 days from the ending of the council meeting or from the receipt of written amendment to the mine closure project submitted by the applicant (if any), complete and submit the application for approval for mine closure project to the competent authority for considering approval;

b) Within 07 days from the receipt of the statement enclosed with the application for approval for mine closure project, the authority competent to give approval for the mine closure project shall make decision on approval for the project. If the project is not approved, a written response shall be granted to provide explanation;

c) Within 02 days from the receipt of decision on approval for mine closure project, the receiving authority shall inform the applicant to receive application handling results and discharge relevant obligations in accordance with applicable regulations.

Article 8. Time and procedures for check and acceptance of performance of the mine closure project

1. Upon the completion of items and workload under the approved mine closure project, the applicant shall send a written report on the project’s performance results to the receiving authority for considering acceptance.

Time for check and acceptance of performance results of the mine closure project, and promulgation of decision on mine closure shall not exceed 30 days as from the receipt of report on the project’s performance results.

2. Within 15 days from the receipt of report on performance results of the mine closure project, the receiving authority must get written ideas from regulatory authorities in accordance with regulations in Clause 2 Article 20 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2015 of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on environment remediation and restoration in mineral mining activities and other relevant authorities before carrying out the on-site inspection to verify the performance results of the mine closure project.

Results of on-site inspection of performance of work items included in the mine closure project and completion of environment remediation and restoration work items must be specified in the written record of on-site inspection.

Article 9. Application and procedures for promulgation of decision on mine closure

1. The application for promulgation of decision on mine closure includes:

a) The application form for mine closure which is made by the applicant who is licensed to perform mining activities and enclosed with the mining license;

b) The mine closure project, enclosed with decision on approval for the mine closure project made by the competent authority; report on performance of the mine closure project made by the applicant for approval for mine closure;

c) The written record of on-site inspection; the report on acceptance of mine closure project made by the receiving authority. In case the issuance of mining license is under the competence of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the written ideas given by the People’s Committee of province where the mine is located must be enclosed.

d) The draft of decision on mine closure: In case the mine is closed in order to surrender the mining license or relinquish a part of mining area, mine closure contents must be also specified in the decision on approval for surrender of mining license or for relinquishing part of mining area.

2. Procedures for promulgation of decision on mine closure:

a) Within 05 days from the ending of on-site inspection of performance of mine closure project, the receiving authority complete the application as regulated in Clause 1 of this Article and submit it to the authority that has the power to make decision on mine closure;

b) Within 07 days from the receipt of the application submitted by the receiving authority, the competent authority shall make decision on mine closure. If the application is rejected, the competent authority shall give a written notification and provide explanation;

c) Within 03 days from the receipt of decision on mine closure, the receiving authority shall inform the applicant thereof to receive the application handling results and fulfill other relevant obligations in accordance with regulations.

Chapter IV

TEMPLATES OF APPLICATIONS, DRAWINGS, LICENSES, DECISIONS AND REPORTS IN MINERAL ACTIVITIES

Article 10. Templates of application for mineral operation license; registration forms of area, power, volume, methods, equipment and plan for extraction of minerals to use as common building materials in the project’s building areas; registration forms of quantity of sand/gravel excavated in course of performance of channel dredging and expansion projects

1. Applications for issuance, renewal and surrender of mineral exploration license; the application for relinquishing part of mineral exploration area and the application for transfer of right to conduct mineral exploration activities shall be made using templates 03-06 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

2. Applications for issuance, renewal, surrender and amendment of mining license; the application for relinquishing part of mining area and the application for transfer of right to conduct mining activities shall be made using templates 07 - 11 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

3. The application for issuance of license to extract minerals in area where an investment and construction project is performed shall be made using template No. 12 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

4. Applications for issuance, renewal and surrender of license for full extraction of minerals shall be made using templates 13 - 15 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

5. Applications for excavation of sand and gravel in course of performance of channel dredging and expansion projects; registration forms of quantity of sand/gravel excavated in course of performance of channel dredging and expansion projects; registration forms of area, power, volume, methods, equipment and plan for extraction of minerals to use as common building materials in the project’s building areas shall be made using templates 16 - 18 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 11. Templates of applications for approval for mineral reserves, approval for mine closure projects and applications for mine closure

1. Applications for approval for mineral reserves shall be made using template 19 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

2. Applications for approval for mine closure projects (including applications for mine closure for surrendering mining license or relinquishing part of mining area) shall be made using template 20 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

3. Applications for mine closure (excluding applications for mine closure for surrendering mining license or relinquishing part of mining area) shall be made using template 21 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 12. Templates of maps and drawings required in applications for mineral operation license and mine closure

1. Map of an area in which mineral exploration license/ mining license is applied for or the mine of which the closure is applied for is located shall be made according to appendix of template of mineral exploration license, mining license or decision on mine closure enclosed herewith.

2. Map scale of area in which mineral operation license is applied for or where the mine of which the closure is applied for is located is provided for as below:

a) The map of an area of 5km²or larger shall be made on the background of the map extracted from the VN-2000 coordinate topographic map, and have a scale of not smaller than 1:100.000;

b) The map of an area between 2km²and 5km²shall be made on the background of the map extracted from the VN-2000 coordinate topographic map, and have a scale of not smaller than 1:50.000;

c) The map of an area from 0.5km²to under 2km²shall be made on the background of the map extracted from the VN-2000 coordinate topographic map, and have a scale of not smaller than 1:25.000;

d) The map of an area smaller than 0.5km²shall be made on the background of the map extracted from the VN-2000 coordinate topographic map, and its scale shall be not smaller than 1:10.000 if it is the map of mineral exploration area or 1:5.000 if it is the map of mining area or the map of area where the mine to be closed is located.

3. Meridians and projection zones of drawings required in applications for mineral operation license or
applications for mine closure, and status map of mining area must comply with the following provisions:

a) With respect to the licensing under the competence of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, drawings required in the application for mineral operation license or the application for mine closure, and status map of mining area shall be made according to VN-2000 coordinates, central-axle meridians and projection zone of 6 degree;

b) With respect to the licensing under the competence of the Provincial-level People’s Committee, drawings required in the application for mineral operation license or the application for mine closure, and status map of mining area shall be made according to VN-2000 coordinates, local-axle meridians and projection zone.

Article 13. Regulations on licensing and templates of mineral exploration license, mining license and license for full extraction of minerals; certificates of registration of area, power, volume, methods, equipment and plan for extraction of minerals to use as common building materials in the project’s building area; certificates of registration of quantity of sand/gravel excavated in course of performance of channel dredging and expansion projects

1. The mineral exploration license, the mining license, the license for extraction of minerals in project s building area, or the license for full extraction of minerals shall be issued in 03 originals among which 01 original is retained by the licensing authority, 01 original is retaining by the receiving authority and the other is delivered to the applicant. Copies of the license shall be sent to relevant authorities/units for monitoring and cooperating in management task.

2. The mineral exploration license, the mining license, the license for extraction of minerals in project s building area, and the license for full extraction of minerals shall be made using Template No. 22, Template No. 24, Template No. 26 and Template No. 29; The renewed mineral exploration license and the renewed mining license is made using Template No. 23 and Template No. 25 provided in the appendix enclosed herewith.

3. The transfer of rights to carry out mineral exploration or mining activities shall be certified by granting a new license whose contents must be in conformity with the former one with the number of issued originals regulated in Clause 1 of this Article, and performed in accordance with relevant regulations of the law on minerals.

4. Decisions shall be granted using Template No. 28, Template No. 33 and Template No. 34 provided in the appendix enclosed herewith in order to give approval for amendments to a mining license, for surrender of mineral exploration license or relinquishing part of mineral exploration area, and for surrender of mining license or relinquishing part of mining area.

5. Certificates of registration of area, power, volume, methods, equipment and plan for extraction of minerals to use as common building materials in the project’s building area; certificates of registration of quantity of sand/gravel excavated in course of performance of channel dredging and expansion projects shall be made using Template No. 27 enclosed herewith.

Article 14. Templates of decisions granted in mineral operations

1. Decisions on approval/ certification of mineral reserves/resources included in reports on mineral exploration results, approval/ certification of mineral water reserves/resources; reports on exploration for upgrading mineral reserves category in licensed mining area shall be made using Template No. 30 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

2. Decision on approval for mine closure project shall be made using Template 31 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

3. Decision on mine closure (excluding the surrender of mining license or relinquishing part of mining area which is specified in decision on approval for surrender of mining license or relinquishing part of mining area) shall be made using Template 32 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 15. Templates of reports on mineral operation results

Reports on mineral operations prescribed in Article 7 of the Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP shall be made using templates 35 - 45 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith. To be specific:

1. Periodic report on mineral exploration activities shall be made using Template No. 35.

2. Periodic report on mining activities shall be made using Template No. 36.

3. Report on state management of minerals within the scope of a province or central-affiliated city shall be made using Template No. 37.

Consolidated report on the issuance of mineral exploration license and results of exploration activities in the province or city is made using the Template No. 37a; Consolidated report on the issuance of mining license and results of mining activities in the province or city is made using the Template No. 37b.

4. Report on state management of minerals nationwide shall be made using Template No. 38.

5. Report on mineral exploration results shall be made using Template No. 39.

6. Report on mineral water exploration results shall be made using Template No. 40.

7. Report on results of mine closure project shall be made using Template No. 41.

8. Report on mineral exploration results and plan for keeping exploration conducted (if the renewal of license is applied for) shall be made using Template No. 42.

9. Report on mining results and plan for keeping mining activities conducted (if the mining license is amended or renewed) shall be made using Template No. 43.

Article 16. Templates of other relevant documents in mineral operations

Other documents relating to mineral operations shall be made using templates 44 - 49 provided in the Appendix enclosed herewith. To be specific:

1. Written record of on-site inspection of performance of mine closure project shall be made using Template No. 44.

2. Registration or notification of commencement of mine capital construction or commencement of mining activities shall be made using Template No. 45.

3. Plan for surveying and sampling to serve the selection of area for making the mineral exploration project shall be made using Template No. 46.

6. Notification given by the Provincial-level People’s Committee for approval for the plan for surveying and sampling to serve the selection of area for making mineral exploration project shall be made using Template No. 47.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 17. Transitional provision

The processing of applications for approval for mineral exploration projects or mine closure projects and reports/documents included in applications for mineral operation license or applications for approval for mineral reserves which are received by regulatory authorities before the entry into force of the Government’s Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 on guidelines for the Law on Minerals shall be continued in accordance with regulations of law applicable at time of receiving such applications.

Article 18. Effect and implementation responsibility

1. This Circular shall come into force as from March 15, 2017.

2. The Circular No. 16/2012/TT-BTNMT dated November 29, 2012 by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment providing regulations on mineral exploration and mine closure projects, and templates of reports and documents required in applications for mineral operation license, applications for approval for mineral reserves and applications for mine closure shall be no longer valid as from the entry into force of this Circular.

3. General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam shall instruct and inspect the implementation of this Circular.

4. Ministries, Ministerial-level Agencies, Affiliates of the Government, the People s Committees at all levels, and other organizations and individuals involved shall assume responsible for implementing this Circular.

Any difficulties that arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration./.

For the Minister

The Deputy Minister

Nguyen Linh Ngoc