Issues in the field of mineral management and exploitation

Mineral exploitation in Quy Hop area. Photo: Document

*It is necessary to attach responsibility to the head of the Party Committee in mineral management.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Luc - Deputy Head of Natural Resources and Minerals Department, Nghe An Department of Natural Resources and Environment said:Nghe An has rich and diverse mineral resources, including many types of minerals with economic value and potential such as white marble, tin ore, gold, lead - zinc, iron ore, precious stones, cement limestone, cement clay, sand and gravel, landfill, minerals for construction materials...

Mr. Nguyen Cong Luc - Department of Natural Resources and Environment

In recent years, the province's policy has been to limit the licensing of mining of minerals other than essential minerals such as land for landfill, sand, gravel, and construction stone. Along with that, the province has also strengthened state management measures and solutions; clearly assigned authority and responsibility to each level, each sector, and locality in protecting and managing minerals... The National Assembly Standing Committee has also increased financial and tax policies, from 7-10%, now some types have increased to 15% to 27%.

The biggest difficulty now is that the mineral protection work implemented according to the Plan for protecting unexploited minerals issued by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 4182/QD-UBND is still ineffective and illegal exploitation still occurs. The most prominent is illegal sand and gravel exploitation on Lam River in the districts of Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong and the border area between Do Luong and Anh Son districts. Besides, some households use the excuse of renovating their gardens to exploit land for leveling, which some localities have not been able to manage. In addition, at times in some areas, illegal exploitation of tin, white stone, ornamental stone, etc. still occurs.

To overcome the above situation, all levels and sectors need to strictly implement the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee, especially the coordination regulations in state management of minerals and plans to protect unexploited minerals in the province. In addition to legal solutions, it is recommended that the Provincial Party Committee issue a directive to strengthen the Party's leadership role in mineral exploitation and processing activities in the province, in which it is necessary to attach responsibility to the heads of Party committees at all levels in mineral management.

*Create unity and synchronization in legal regulations

Dr. Le Ai Thu - President of Vietnam Economic Geology Association discussed:Regarding minerals and mineral management, there is currently a whole system of regulations, from the Law on Minerals, Land, Environmental Protection... issued by the National Assembly; to decrees, decisions of the Government and documents of ministries, central and local branches.

Dr. Le Ai Thu

The Law on Minerals stipulates that enterprises must conduct auctions for mineral exploitation rights; in addition, the Land Law stipulates that enterprises must make agreements and compensate land users for site clearance to implement projects without State support for the people. This means that enterprises must pay twice the fee to have an investment project for exploitation. Or the regulation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports, according to the Law on Minerals, has been assessed in the investment project report and the Law on Environmental Protection also has this regulation and forces projects to continue to do EIA. On the other hand, for mineral projects currently under state management of many sectors, from the Natural Resources - Environment, Industry and Trade, Construction, etc., any sector can inspect and check.

Plum Blossom(Take note)

* Recommend thorough review of tax and fees for businesses

Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuyen - Chairman of the Vinh City Association of Veteran Entrepreneurs said that organizing inspection teams for enterprises operating in the mining sector is necessary. The inspection should aim at the departments and branches to recommend, remind, and support enterprises to correct existing problems, not just to detect shortcomings (including non-subjective factors) to punish. Stone mining enterprises themselves have to pay too many taxes and fees. Typically, environmental tax, VAT, land rent, forest planting fund, licensing fees, etc.

If before 2013, Nghe An had over 158 mining enterprises, now there are less than 50 enterprises. The reason is that the State tightened the management of mining, at the same time many enterprises did not meet the requirements, production was at a loss, taxes, fees were high... Especially in stone mining, if considered correctly, the licensing fee that enterprises must pay in case the State explores, evaluates the mine reserves and then grants the rights to enterprises. However, for a long time, enterprises have had to pay for exploration, environmental impact assessment... and also bear the licensing costs. This is not satisfactory and needs to be considered more thoroughly.

Nguyen Nguyen(Take note)

*Proposed regulationterriblefeerelated guaranteeslocal mineral exploitation

Through discussion, Mr. Tran Duc Loi - Permanent Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee proposed:Quy Hop is a key district in mineral exploitation and processing activities. There are currently 74 active mines in the area; 78 closed mines and nearly 180 mineral processing facilities. Besides contributing positively to the budget revenue, creating jobs and income for many local workers, the environmental consequences, especially water shortages and water pollution, affect the daily life and production of the people; traffic infrastructure is also heavily impacted by mineral transportation activities.

Mr. Tran Duc Loi, Permanent Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee

To ensure effectiveness in the management of mineral activities and environmental protection in the district, it is recommended that the province regulate the revenue from environmental protection fees in mineral exploitation activities according to Decree No. 164/2016/ND-CP and regulate the revenue from mineral exploitation rights according to the 2010 Mineral Law and Decree 203/2013/ND-CP of the Government.

Plum Blossom(Take note)

* Heavy trucks of the enterprise damaged the road

Mr. Lo Van Nhac, Khuc village, Chau Loc commune, Quy Hop district reported: Provincial Road 532 running through the village area for about 2km has been seriously damaged by heavy trucks of the mining enterprise. It is dusty in the dry season, and flooded in the rainy season, affecting people's lives. According to the report, the enterprise spread stones, but heavy trucks can pass, but people still face many difficulties.

* Need to coordinate with commune level to control mining activities

Mr. Lang Van Hanh - Chairman of Chau Tien Commune People's Committee, Quy Hop District said: There are 11 mining enterprises in the commune. In the process of implementing state management tasks, the commune level has little authority, so the voice of the commune in this field is still inadequate.

Second, the commune's land officials themselves also have limitations. Third, some mining enterprises have not coordinated with the commune and have not strictly implemented mining procedures according to State regulations. Fourth, there is a lack of coordination between departments and branches with the commune level; for example, they set up inspection teams for enterprises in the area but did not notify the commune...