Who controls the volume of minerals extracted from mines?

Common Violations

For many months now, the erosion of the Lam River banks through communes such as Long Xa and Hung Linh (Hung Nguyen) has been serious. The fertile alluvial plains, which are usually cultivated twice a year, sometimes have to helplessly watch as they slide down the riverbed when the harvest is near. Therefore, many households no longer dare to cultivate, leaving the land fallow. The erosion of the river banks in these two communes is so serious that Hung Nguyen district has had to consider spending more than 100 billion VND to build and upgrade the embankment.

Not far upstream from the landslide area, a series of large barges are diligently pumping sand from the riverbed. According to local people, excessive sand mining is one of the main causes of landslides. If in the past, people were concerned about illegal sand mining, recently, they have had another worry, which is that businesses licensed to mine sand are exploiting beyond the permitted level. “This is essentially no different from illegal mining. It is even more dangerous because at a mine site, the specialized agency had to evaluate before allowing them to exploit at that level. But now that they exceed the limit, it will cause a huge impact,” said Mr. Nguyen Long Hanh (75 years old, Tan Thuong Loc commune, Nam Dan district) indignantly.

Serious erosion on both banks of Lam River. Part of the cause is excessive sand mining. Photo: TH

In Nam Dan district, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has just fined Lam Son Dai Thanh Cooperative VND900 million and suspended mineral exploitation activities for 5.5 months for this act of sand exploitation in excess. This is one of the cooperatives with the most sand exploitation barges in Nghe An province. This cooperative currently has up to 53 barges, licensed to exploit sand on Lam River through Khanh Son and Tan Thuong Loc communes... What is worrying is that this cooperative has exploited beyond the permitted level for 2 consecutive years without the local government and relevant agencies detecting it.

It was not until recently, when the provincial interdisciplinary inspection team conducted a field inspection and compared it with tax invoices, that it was discovered that in 2020, Lam Son Dai Thanh Cooperative had exploited 80.8% more than its permitted capacity. In 2021, it exceeded its permitted annual exploitation capacity by 171.6%.

More seriously, in Thanh Chuong district, Thanh Chuong Sand, Gravel and Transport Exploitation Joint Stock Company exploited sand exceeding the permitted level by 211.2% in 2020. In 2021, the company also exceeded the permitted annual mining capacity by 208.6%. The company was later fined VND900 million and had its mineral exploitation activities suspended for 5.5 months.

Like Lam Son Dai Thanh Cooperative, Thanh Chuong Sand, Gravel and Transport Joint Stock Company is a “big guy” in the sand mining sector. This company is licensed to operate 3 mines on the Lam River through the communes of Vo Liet, Thanh Chi and Dong Van. In addition, all 15 sand and gravel trading yards in Thanh Chuong district are owned by this company.

Not only Nam Dan and Thanh Chuong districts, Do Luong district has also recently experienced sand exploitation exceeding the permitted level. Specifically, in September 2022, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a decision to administratively fine Hoang Nguyen Company Limited 300 million VND for exploiting more than the permitted annual capacity stated in the Mineral Exploitation License. This company is licensed to exploit sand on the Lam River from Luu Son commune, Do Luong district, to Cat Van commune, Thanh Chuong district. The permitted annual sand exploitation capacity of this company is 23,920m³.

However, through inspection, in 2021, this company exploited 30,751.5m³, exceeding 28.5% of capacity, with an excess volume of 6,831m³In addition to the fine, the Provincial People's Committee also forced Hoang Nguyen Company Limited to take measures to renovate environmental protection works, remedy environmental pollution, and damage to technical infrastructure caused by over-capacity exploitation.

A sand gathering site by the Lam River. Photo: TH

Difficult to monitor?

Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said that in the district, there are 8 mining areas licensed to exploit sand and gravel. Of these, there are 4 mines owned by Hoang Nguyen Company Limited and Thanh Chuong Sand, Gravel Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company. These are the 2 companies that have just been fined for exploiting beyond the permitted capacity.

Thanh Chuong district leaders also acknowledged the illegal sand mining as well as sand mining outside the licensed mine. In recent years, the locality has imposed an average of more than 1 billion VND in fines each year for these violations. However, regarding mining beyond capacity, Mr. Thanh said it is very difficult to monitor. "Illegal mining or mining outside the mine area can be detected, but controlling the volume is very difficult," Mr. Thanh said.

Similarly, a leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nam Dan district said that the unit cannot manage this issue. “We cannot manage that. They mine at the mine, transport it to Hung Nguyen district to sell, who can monitor it. We only control whether they mine in the mine or not, don’t let it out of the mine. As for the mining capacity, how can we manage it?”, he said, adding that to control this situation, many units, especially the Waterway Traffic Police, are needed to participate.

"When the barge leaves the mine, it is transported to the point of sale, which is carefully blocked by this force, the invoice is checked, and then based on the tax invoice, it can be processed," he added.

Local authorities say it is difficult to monitor the actual volume of minerals exploited. Photo: TH

Meanwhile, Major Nguyen Khanh Dung - Captain of the Waterway Police Team (Traffic Police Department - Nghe An Provincial Police) said that the unit only manages vehicles, not wharves and mining sites, so it is very difficult to control. "Like on land, using satellite images can monitor, but under water, it is impossible. In principle, when selling, at the point of sale, there must be a load scale, camera, and daily entry and exit data must be saved. But currently, almost no place has it," said Major Dung.

An official from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Do Luong district said that in reality, some businesses have installed cameras and arranged weight scales, but only to deal with the inspection team. “When the inspection team returned, they turned off the cameras, and many vehicles did not pass through the weighing station. Therefore, it is very difficult to monitor. To monitor, installing cameras and weight scales is not enough, but the camera system must also be connected to the police and the Tax Department. However, this solution has not been implemented yet,” said the official.

Strengthening state management

Regarding this issue, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has just issued a Plan to strengthen the state management of minerals in the province. Accordingly, the People's Committee of the province requires departments, branches, units and localities to clearly define the main tasks and coordination tasks in the state management of minerals, as a basis for synchronous, timely and effective implementation of assigned tasks. On the other hand, strengthening the state management of minerals, exploiting and using mineral resources reasonably and economically, meeting the requirements of sustainable development, increasing economic efficiency and revenue for the state budget...

Sand mining barges on Lam River through Nam Dan district. Photo: TH

In addition, inspect and thoroughly handle the installation of cameras and weighing stations by enterprises and organizations and individuals exploiting and trading in sand and gravel mineral gathering ports and yards; study regulations on connecting surveillance camera data at warehouses to store information and data of mining units with the Tax authorities and resource management agencies to monitor mining output at mines. Strictly control invoices, documents and origins to prevent illegal legalization of minerals and unlicensed mineral enterprises. Have regulations on coordination between the Tax authorities and the Public Security sector and the Market Management Department to handle cases of illegal transportation and trading of minerals. Improve the quality of inspection, examination and handling of violations in mineral activities; monitor and review the remediation and compliance with legal regulations after inspection and examination. Research, build and complete the information system and database on minerals and mineral enterprises in Nghe An province.