Nghị định 51/2021/ND-CP

DECREE

ON MANAGEMENT OF MINERALS IN NATIONAL MINERAL RESERVES

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015 and Law on Amendments to the Law on Government Organization and Law on Local Government Organization dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Mineral Law dated November 17, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on amendments to a number of Articles of 37 Laws related to planning dated November 20, 2018;

At the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;

The Government hereby promulgates a Decree on management of minerals in national mineral reserves.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Decree provides for national mineral reserve determination, approval and change; national mineral reserve period; mineral management and protection and performance of projects on investment in socio - economic development (hereinafter collectively referred to as “investment projects”) in national mineral reserves.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Decree is applicable to mineral authorities and organizations and individuals related to national mineral reserves.

Chapter II

NATIONAL MINERAL RESERVE DETERMINATION, APPROVAL AND CHANGE AND NATIONAL MINERAL RESERVATION PERIOD

Article 3. National mineral reserve determination

1. National mineral reserve determination must adhere to regulations in Clause 1 Article 29 of the Mineral Law and determined national mineral reserves must not be included in planning for mineral exploration, extraction, processing and use.

2. The national mineral reservation period mentioned in Clause 1 Article 6 herein shall be determined as follows:

a) Maximum reservation time according to regulations is applicable to reserves whose natural conditions are advantageous for leisure travel projects per tourism system planning; or for eco-friendly industrial projects per relevant national sector planning;

b) For reserves besides those mentioned in Point a herein, mineral reservation period shall be determined according to mineral demand for development of socio - economic industries from time to time of mineral strategies and relevant planning for mineral exploration, extraction, processing and use.

3. The following basic information on areas having minerals determined as national mineral reserves must be provided:

a) Type of mineral; coordinates of corner points, area and depth of national mineral reserve;

b) Quantity of resources and deposits of national mineral reserve;

c) Mineral reservation period.

Article 4. National mineral reserve approval and change

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Construction and People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities in determining national mineral reserves and proposing national mineral reserve approval or change to the Prime Minister.

2. An application for national mineral reserve approval (hereinafter referred to as “approval application”) includes:

a) Consolidated report on the reserve, including information on level of mineral investigation, assessment and exploration in the reserve; current use of land,  projects and works on land at the time of reserve determination (if any);

b) Application for national mineral reserve approval, which includes the following basic information: mineral requiring reservation; resource and deposit of each type of mineral requiring reservation; reserve coordinates, area and depth and geographical name of the area where the reserve is located; and mineral reservation period;

c) Draft decision on national mineral reserve approval;

d) Map of the reserve, which shows the information mentioned in Point a Clause 3 Article 3 herein.

3. An application for national mineral reserve change (hereinafter referred to as “change application”) includes:

a) Application for national mineral reserve change, which includes the following basic information: resource and deposit of mineral to be added to or removed from the reserve; coordinates, area, depth and geographical name of the area undergoing change; reason for the change;

b) Draft decision on national mineral reserve change;

c) Map of the area undergoing change, which shows the information mentioned in Point a Clause 3 Article 3 herein.

4. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall send the applications prepared according to regulations in Clauses 2 and 3 herein to the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and People’s Committees of provinces where national mineral reserves are located for their opinions.

The abovementioned ministries and provincial People’s Committees shall give their opinions in writing within 20 days starting from the date of receipt of the request for opinion.

Article 5. Change to approved national mineral reserves

Change may be made to an approved national mineral reserve in any of the following cases:

1. An addition is made to list of national mineral reserves upon new mineral detection in compliance with Clause 1 Article 29 of the Mineral Law and Clause 1 Article 3 herein.

2. The whole or a part of a determined national mineral reserve will be removed from the list of national mineral reserves in any of the following cases:

a) The reserve is added to a relevant planning for mineral exploration, extraction, processing and use according to regulations of law on planning;

b) The reserve is used for national defense and security; and investment projects whose investment guidelines are decided or approved by the National Assembly, Government or Prime Minister, ensuring transparency.

Article 6. National mineral reservation period

1. Maximum national mineral reservation time shall be 50 years according to the approval decision from the Prime Minister. In special cases, for some reserves and specific minerals, this period may be extended for no longer than 70 years, which shall be decided by the Prime Minister.

2. In case the national mineral reservation period has expired but the reserved mineral(s) is/ are not yet added to the relevant planning for mineral exploration, extraction, processing and use, this period may be extended. The extension shall be determined according to regulations in Clause 2 Article 3 and Clause 1 of this Article.

Chapter III

MINERAL MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION AND PERFORMANCE OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS IN NATIONAL MINERAL RESERVES

Article 7. Management and protection of minerals in national mineral reserves

1. Minerals in national mineral reserves must be strictly protected according to regulations of the Mineral Law, the Government's Decrees providing guidelines for the Mineral Law and this Decree.

2. During the performance of investment projects in national mineral reserves, investors shall:

a) Protect minerals on the project site according to regulations in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Not extract minerals in national mineral reserves under the guise of investment projects or construction.

3. Investors committing a violation against the regulation in Point b Clause 2 herein shall be subject to penalty according to regulations of law on handling of administrative violations against regulations on minerals and, depending on the nature and extent of the violation and amount of minerals illegally extracted, be temporarily suspended from performing their investment projects or have the decision on investment guidelines revoked in compliance with relevant law provisions.

Article 8. Performance of investment projects in national mineral reserves

1. Do not perform the following investment projects in national mineral reserves:

a) Investment projects requiring long-term land use, excluding technical infrastructure works of national and public interests;

b) Construction works of special grade and grade I per regulations of law on construction, excluding projects of national importance whose investment guidelines are approved by the National Assembly, Government and Prime Minister.

2. When applying for approval for investment guidelines of projects in national mineral reserves, applicants must assess the impact of their projects on mineral resources, deposits and quality in these national mineral reserves; and include solutions for protection of minerals requiring reservation in the prefeasibility research report or report for approval for investment guidelines.

3. An assessment of impact to mineral resources, deposits and quality and solution for protection of minerals in a national mineral reserve includes:

a) Overview of reserved mineral resources on project site, including other minerals, concerning level of mineral potential investigation and assessment; current conditions of mineral resources and deposits and current mineral exploration and extraction activities (if any);

b) Assessment of scope of possible impact of the project on reserved mineral resources, deposits and quality;

c) Solution for protection of minerals requiring reservation on project site: identify specific work items that have a possible impact on minerals requiring reservation; stipulate responsibility of relevant organizations, units and individuals and the project investor for monitoring, supervising and promptly reporting any direct impact on minerals requiring reservation during the construction or performance of the project to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for handling according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 9 herein;

d) Commitment to fulfill obligations to protect minerals not yet extracted on project site according to regulations in Clause 2 Article 7 herein.

4. Performance period of an investment project in a national mineral reserve shall not exceed the remaining mineral reservation period of the reserve.

5. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall give its opinions on the content mentioned in Clause 3 herein for investment projects whose investment guidelines are approved by the National Assembly, Government, Prime Minister and heads of ministries and central government authorities as per law on investment.

6. Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces where investment projects besides those mentioned in Clause 5 herein are located shall give their opinions on the content mentioned in Clause 3 herein.

7. Investment project investment registration authorities shall obtain opinions from the regulatory bodies mentioned in Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article. Opinions on assessment of impact on resources, deposits and quality; and solutions for protection of minerals in national mineral reserves shall be obtained at the same time during the opinion obtaining process before the investment guidelines are proposed to competent authorities and persons for approval as per law on investment.

Article 9. Removal of minerals on sites of investment projects in national mineral reserves

1. If construction of work items of an investment project in a national mineral reserve requires land grading, excavating and/or filling that directly impact/s reserved minerals and the original state of the reserved minerals cannot be preserved, removal of the affected minerals may be considered and permitted.

2. The project investor shall report to the People's Committee of the province where the project is located, which will notify the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in writing, to organize inspection and determination of the area containing the affected minerals mentioned in Clause 1 herein and issue a written approval for the removal to provide the basis for the provincial People’s Committee to decide the removal and request relevant organizations and individuals to fulfill their obligations as prescribed by law.

3. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals permitted to remove minerals mentioned in Clause 2 herein:

a) Be subject to inspection from the relevant mineral authority; and supervision of Vietnam Fatherland Front and people of the locality where the project is located;

b) Remove minerals in the area and with the amount determined by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment according to regulations in Clauses 1 and 2 herein with the permission from the People's Committee of the province where the project is located, take responsibility before the law for data in the mineral removal report submitted to the provincial People’s Committee for calculation of payment for mineral extraction right and fulfill other financial obligations as per the law;

c) Register and report mineral amount removed to the People's Committee of the province where the project is located and comply with regulations of law on environmental protection during the removal process.

4. Rules for decision on mineral removal by the People’s Committee of the province where the investment project is located according to regulations in Clause 2 herein:

a) Minerals shall be removed during project performance;

b) Project investors shall organize mineral removal according to regulations in Clause 1 herein. Otherwise, investors must propose other organizations and units for the removal to the provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision.

5. Applications and procedures for removal of minerals on investment project sites in national mineral reserves shall adhere to regulations on mineral extraction in areas where construction investment projects are located of mineral law.

Article 10. Compensation upon investment project cancellation

1. In case the Prime Minister reduces the area or mineral reservation time of a national mineral reserve for national defense and security or a project of national importance, which directly affects an investment project in the reserve, the investor is entitled to compensation and assistance according to regulations of law on land and other relevant regulations of law.

2. The State is not obliged to compensate investors of investment projects in national mineral reserves after the mineral reservation period decided by the Prime Minister has expired.

Chapter IV

RESPONSIBILITY FOR STATE MANAGEMENT IN NATIONAL MINERAL RESERVES

Article 11. Responsibilities of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities

1. Cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in determining, changing and gathering opinions on national mineral reserves according to regulations in Clauses 1 and 4 Article 4 herein.

2. Direct relevant provincial authorities and regulatory bodies as well as People's Committees at all levels to manage and supervise performance of investment projects in national mineral reserves; and organize protection of minerals not yet extracted from national mineral reserves according to regulations of law on minerals and regulations of this Decree.

Article 12. Responsibilities of ministries and ministerial-level agencies

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall:

a) Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Construction in formulating approval and change applications according to regulations in Article 4 herein;

b) Publish national mineral reserves changed or approved by the Prime Minister on the web portals of the Government and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

2. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Construction shall:

a) Cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in determining national mineral reserves and proposing national mineral reserve approval or change to the Prime Minister according to regulations in Article 4 herein;

b) Take charge of amending relevant planning for mineral exploration, extraction, processing and use according to regulations of law on minerals and planning after the Prime Minister decides to change national mineral reserves.

3. Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in giving opinions according to regulations in Clause 4 Article 4 herein.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSE

Article 13. Transitional clauses

1. Business establishments and projects lawfully active in national mineral reserves before the entry into force of this Decree may continue to operate or be performed until the end of the operating or performing period approved by the competent authority. Project performing time may be extended according to regulations of this Decree.

2. For investment projects planned to start in national mineral reserves and received by the competent authority before the entry into force of this Decree but not yet granted the investment guidelines, the receiving authority shall review these projects to ensure that the project performing time is appropriate to the national mineral reservation period according to regulations of this Decree.

Article 14. Effect and implementing responsibility

1. This Decree takes effect from the date on which it is signed.

2. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall take charge and cooperate with relevant ministries and central authorities in organizing the implementation of this Decree.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of Governmental agencies, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities and relevant organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree./.