Decision No. 1456/QD-DCKS on the issuance of the "Regulation on Closing Solid Mineral Mines"

 

Pursuant to …;

Regarding the issuance of the "Regulation on Closing Solid Mineral Mines"

THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY

Pursuant to Decree No. 74/CP dated November 1, 1995 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry;
Pursuant to the Law on Minerals dated March 20, 1996 and Decree No. 68/CP dated November 1, 1996 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Minerals;
At the proposal of the Director of the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Department,

Pursuant to …;

Article 1.- This Decision promulgates the "Regulation on Closing Solid Mineral Mines" to be uniformly applied throughout the country.

Article 2.- This provision shall take effect thirty days from the date of signature.

Article 3.- Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, provincial People's Committees under central cities, Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Administration, and organizations and individuals permitted to extract solid minerals are responsible for implementing this Decision.

 

 

 

REGULATIONS

REGULATION ON CLOSING SOLID MINERAL MINES
(Issued together with Decision No. 1456/QĐ-ĐCKS dated September 4, 1997 of the Minister of Industry)

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. This Regulation stipulates actions that must be taken when closing solid mineral mines with the aim of:

1. Liquidating the mine after all mineral reserves have been extracted in the mining area to be closed;

2. Protecting unextracted or partially extracted mineral reserves in the mining area to be closed;

3. Safeguarding construction works, equipment, fixed assets, geological and mining documents of the area to be closed;

4. Ensuring safety, restoring the environment, ecology, and land according to the law after closing the mining area.

Article 2. The cases of mine closure that must comply with this Regulation include:

1. Closing the mine to liquidate part or all of the mining area due to the exhaustion of mineral reserves;

2. Closing part of the mining area to protect it because the mineral reserves in that part have not been fully extracted;

3. Closing the mine for protection when the mining permit expires under the provisions of Clause 1, Article 40 of the Law on Minerals but the mineral reserves in the mining area have not been fully extracted.

Article 3. This Regulation does not apply to all cases of temporarily suspending mining operations while the mining permit remains valid.

Article 4. The authority issuing the type of mining permit has the authority to approve the mine closure plan for that type of mineral.

Article 5. The agency receiving the mine closure plan from the Ministry of Industry is the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Administration.

The agency receiving the mine closure plan from the Provincial People's Committee under central cities is the Department of Industry.

Article 6. Organizations and individuals permitted to extract minerals must bear all costs to implement mine closure according to the approved plan by the authority issuing the mining permit.

Article 7. After the mine closure plan has been implemented and accepted according to this Regulation and the lease agreement has been settled, remaining minerals in the closed mining area must be protected according to the law governing unextracted mineral resources.

Chapter II

PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES

Article 8. All cases where the mining permit is terminated according to Article 40 of the Law on Minerals must close the mine for protection or liquidation and fulfill all related obligations as specified in Points b, c, and d, Clause 2, Article 40 of the Law on Minerals.

Article 9. Within forty-five days from the date the permit ceases to be effective, organizations and individuals permitted to extract minerals must submit the mine closure plan, all geological, mining, processing documents, and legal documents regarding mining rights and other related rights to the agency receiving them as stipulated in Article 5 of this Regulation.

Article 10. To be eligible for mine closure, organizations and individuals permitted to extract minerals must submit the following documents to the receiving agency:

a. A request to close the mine;

b. The mine closure plan;

c. A map showing the current status of the closure area.

Article 11. The mine closure plan must clearly address the following issues:

- Summary of the mine's history;

- Mineral reserves according to evaluated and reviewed reports; designed extraction reserves, actual extracted reserves, loss rate;

- Explanation of reasons for mine closure;

- Current status, quantity, volume, and safety level of mine structures (including waste dumps);

- Volume of work and measures for mine closure, including clear measures to protect unextracted mineral resources, tasks to ensure safety after mine closure, including waste dumps, and measures to restore land and the environment;

- Recommendations for protecting or reasonably using mine structures and the mining area after completing mine closure work;

- Volume, progress, and completion time of the plan's tasks;

- Costs of mine closure and the basis for ensuring funding, including compensation for losses caused by mine closure.

Article 12. Within twenty days from the date of receipt of the mine closure plan from domestic organizations and individuals, and within thirty days from the date of receipt of the plan from foreign organizations and individuals or related organizations involving foreign parties, the agency receiving the plan must complete the organization of review, field inspection, collection of opinions from relevant agencies, and submission to the competent authority for approval or issue a document requesting supplementation or modification of the plan.

Article 13. Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the report on the completion of the mine closure plan, the agency receiving the plan is responsible for organizing the acceptance of the results of the mine closure plan implementation and notifying the results in writing to relevant central and local agencies.

Article 14. After the mine closure has been accepted, organizations and individuals permitted to extract minerals must complete the settlement of the land lease contract and other contracts related to the implementation of the mining permit according to the law.

Article 15. Resuming mining activities in the area previously closed requires following the procedures for opening new mines and must comply with the Administrative Procedures for Mining Operation Licenses issued together with Decision No. 325/QĐ-ĐCKS dated February 26, 1997 of the Minister of Industry.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 16. These Rules shall take effect thirty days (30) from the date of issuance and replace the Closure Regulation for Solid Mineral Mines issued together with Decision No. 828/QD-BCNN dated December 16, 1992 of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. All previous regulations that conflict with these Rules are hereby abolished.

Article 17. The Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Department and the Departments of Industry of the provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for guiding and inspecting the implementation of these Rules.

 

 

 

 

 

MODEL

 

Pursuant to …;

OF THE MINISTRY HEAD OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY ON APPROVING THE PLAN TO CLOSE THE MINE...

THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY

Pursuant to the Mineral Law dated March 20, 1996 and Decree No. 68/CP dated November 1, 1996 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Mineral Law;
Pursuant to Decree No. 74/CP dated November 1, 1995 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry;
Pursuant to the Closure Regulation for Solid Mineral Mines issued together with Decision No.... /QĐ-ĐCKS dated... month... year 1997 of the Minister of Industry;
Considering the proposal of the Council... at the Minutes of the Council meeting on... month... year... and the opinion of the People's Committee of the province... (Official Letter No... dated... month... year 199...);
At the proposal of the Director of the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Department,

Pursuant to …;

Article 1.- Approves the plan to close the mine... established by (organization, individual permitted to extract) with the main contents as follows:

I. Implementation Plan...

II. Volume of Implementation...

III. Time of Implementation... months, from... to...

Article 2.- (Name of organization, individual) is responsible for implementing the mine closure plan according to the main provisions stipulated in Article 1; comply with current state regulations on labor safety and environmental protection during the process of closing the mine.

Article 3.- The Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Department shall be responsible for coordinating with central and local state management agencies to guide, direct, and inspect the results of this Decision.

Minister of Industry

Place of Receipt: