THE LAW AMENDING THE MYANMAR MINES LAW
Union Parliament Law No. 72/2015
The 13th waxing day of Nattaw, 1377 ME December 24th , 2015
The union parliament hereby enacted this Law.
1. This law shall be called the Law Amending the Myanmar Mines Law.
2. Under Section 2 of the Myanmar Mines Law-
(a) Sub section (b) shall be replaced as provided below
“(b) “Mineral” means metallic mineral, raw material of industrial minerals and stones obtained from the earth by mining or by other operation. Minerals excavated from the sea, rivers, stream, Lakes and soil under water are also included in this term.
(b) Sub section (c) shall be deleted.
(c) Sub Section (g) shall be replaced with the following –
“(g) “Permit” means a permit issued under this Law for the purpose of implementing either one or more of the following activities such as mineral prospecting, surveying and testing, feasibility studying, exploration or production, processing, selling and buying of minerals.
(d) Sub Section (i) shall be replaced with the following –
“(i) “Mineral Exploration” means surveying and measuring to gain knowledge of the type, location, size, shape, quality and volume of a mineral deposit. (e) The sub-section (i (1)) shall be added after the section 2 (i) as follow-
“(i)(a) feasibility studying means examining a mineral deposit to ensure whether it can be mined commercially or not when mineral exploration and prospection have been completed to that deposit. The expression of “the method to excavate the minerals, calculation for venture financing and commercial production, system for impact analysis on environment and social welfare” are included in this term.
(f) After the sub section (j), the sub section (j)(1) shall be added as follow-
“ (j)(1) Buying and selling of minerals” means purchasing, selling, transporting and storing of produced minerals.
(g) Sub section (K) shall be replaced with the following-
“(K) Large Scale extraction means the commercial production of the mineral as business activity with the permission to produce from 15 years to 50 years and which requires substantial investment and expenditure or special technical knowhow and methods according to the volume of the mineral deposit
(h) After the section (K), the sub-section (K)(1) shall be added as follow- “(K) (1) Medium Scale extraction means the extraction of minerals with the permission to extract up to 15 years and where the mineral vein or bonanza has the appropriate volume and such production requires moderate amount of investment and expenses or limited technologies and methods according to the possibility to produce the mineral commercially.
(i) Section (l), (m), (n), (o), (p) and (q) shall be replaced with the followings- “ (l) Small scale extraction means the commercial production of the mineral as a business with the permission to produce up to 10 years and which requires small investments according to lower possibility of mineral productivity.”
“(m) Subsistence production” means production of minerals by using either ordinary hand tools or other machinery equipment which horse power will not exceed than what it is stated and required by rules issued in accordance with the Law.”
“(n) Mineral processing” means the beneficiation of mineral to improve their quality grade or their value. The said expression includes operation of mineral or owe dressing, purifying, smelting, polishing, electrolyzing and molding to obtain mineral concentrates and refined metals.
“(o) Directorate” means the Directorate of Mines”
“(p) Director General means the Director General of the Directorate of Mines”
3. The section 3, sub section (c) of Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following- “(c) to promote development of investment in respect of mineral resources”
4. Section 4 of Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the followings-“4. A person or organization, desirous of carrying out any of the followingoperations, shall apply to the Ministry in accordance with the stipulations for obtaining permit:-
(a) Prospecting, exploration and testing, feasibility studying, large scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral, industrial mineral or stones involving foreign investment
(b) Prospecting, exploration and testing, feasibility studying, large scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral, industrial mineral or stones which involves citizen investment
(c) Prospecting, exploration and testing, feasibility studying, medium scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral or industrial mineral involving citizen investment
(d) Citizen investment involving in prospecting, exploration and testing, small scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral or industrial mineral that is limited by notifications issued by the Ministry
(e) Integrated operation at least three of the prospecting, exploration and testing, feasibility studying, medium or small scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral or industrial mineral involving citizen investment
(f) Changing into joint venture large scale extraction involving foreign investment by the citizen who have already been permitted to operate the medium or small scale extracting, processing, buying and selling of mineral, raw material of industrial mineral and stones with citizen investment only by depending upon the geographical and surveyed reports, quality and volume of the mineral deposit.
5. Section 5 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“5. (a) A person or organization, desirous of carrying out stone prospecting, exploring and surveying, feasibility studying, medium scale producing and processing, or buying and selling of stones shall apply to the Directorate in accordance with the stipulations for obtaining a permit.
“ (b) A person or organization, desirous of carrying out small scale production ofstones or stones limited and prescribed in the notification by the Ministry shallapply to the Directorate in accordance with the stipulations for obtaining a permit.”
6. Section 6 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-
“ 6. A person or organization, with citizen investment, desirous of carrying outmineral prospecting, exploration, small scale production or subsistence production and mineral processing, or buying and selling of mineral or metallic material (Section 2-d of the Law) or industrial minerals (Section 2-e of the Law) or stones which are administered by the divisional or the state government in accordance with the rules promulgated under this Law, shall apply to the respective Divisional or State mining Plot Scrutinizing and Permit Granting Board formed and assigned with the consent off the Union Government.
7. The sub section 6 (a) shall be added after section 6 of the Myanmar Mines Law as following- described hereunder;
“(6)(a) the ministry may, with the consent of the Union Government, form theDivisional or State Plot Scrutinizing and Permit Granting Board.
8. Section 7 of the Myanmar Mines law shall be replaced with the following-
“7. The Ministry shall, with the consent of the Union Government, grant the permitto implement one or more of the following operations-
(a) Mineral or raw material of industrial minerals or stone prospecting, exploration, testing and surveying, feasibility studying, large scale production, processing, buying and selling with the involvement of foreign investment.
(b) Mineral prospecting, exploration, testing and surveying, feasibility studying, large scale production, processing, buying and selling with the citizen investment. (c) Changing into joint venture large scale extraction involving foreign investment by the citizen who have already been permitted to operate the medium or small scale extracting, processing, buying and selling of mineral, raw material of industrial mineral and stones with citizen investment only by depending upon the geographical and surveyed reports, quality and volume of the mineral deposit.
9. Section 8 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-
“8. The ministry may grant the permit to enable to operate any particular one ormore of the following operations in accordance with the stipulations.
(a) Prospecting, exploration, testing and surveying, feasibility studying, large scale production, processing, buying and selling of raw material of industrial minerals or stone, with the citizen investment.
(b) Prospecting, exploration, testing and surveying, feasibility studying, medium scale production, processing, buying and selling of raw material of industrial minerals or mineral, with the citizen investment.
(c) Prospecting, exploration and testing, small scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral or raw material of industrial minerals which are limited by notifications issued by the Ministry with the citizen investment.
(d) Integrated operations at least three of the prospecting, exploration and testing, feasibility studying, medium or small scale production and processing, or buying and selling of mineral or raw material of industrial minerals involving citizen investment
(e) Operating the mine under the specific rules and regulations, and which can be excavated commercially as per the sufficient geographical facts and volume of the mineral vein in accordance with the auction system.
10. Section 9 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-
“9. The Directorate may-
(a) with the approval of the Ministry and in accordance with the stipulations, grant permit to the citizen or organization for their applying to operate prospecting, exploration or medium scale production and processing or buying and selling of stone.
(b) with the approval of the Ministry and in accordance with the stipulations, grant permit to the citizen or organization for their applying to operate prospecting, exploration or small scale production and processing or buying and selling of stone which are limited by notification issued by the Ministry.
11.The Section 10 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“10. The mines plot scrutinizing and permit granting board1 which has been organized in each Region and State with the approval of Union Government may, upon scrutinizing the application made by the person or organization under Section 6 and obtaining comments from the Ministry, grant the permit to carry out prospecting, exploration, small scale or subsistence production and mineral processing, or trading mineral or industrial minerals or gemstones, that can be operated in respective Region or State.
12.The Section 11 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“11. The Ministry shall, for the classification of large scale production, medium scale production, small scale production and subsistence production, take into consideration of the terms of the operation, operational area, distance across, investment volume, machinery, and usage of equipment in accordance with the sub-section (k) (k)(1)), (l), (m) of section 2.
13. After the Section 11 of the Myanmar Mines Law, the subsection 11(a) and 11 (b) shall be added as follow-
“11 (a). the scrutinizing and permit granting board formed for the respective divisionor state with the consent of approving Ministry, Directorate or by the Union Government shall grant the permit to those who sought the permit for mining of mineral at a plot where he had successfully done the mineral prospecting, exploring and feasibility studying simultaneously with the approval.
11 (b) a person who is, without producing the mineral by himself , desirous of purchasing and processing of the such mineral from a persons who produces the same with the permit shall apply and obtain the permit for the mineral buying and selling business separately.
14. Section 12, sub section (f) of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-
“(f) pay prescribed royalty and other fees payable under this Law either by the cash or the mineral proportion in accordance with the stipulation.”
15. After the Sub- section 12 (f) of the Myanmar Mines Law the following paragraph shall be added as sub-section (g).
“(g) the royalty payable either in Myanmar currency or in foreign currency whenthe business involves foreign investment shall be contributed only in Myanmar currency which is equivalent to currency exchange rate stated by the Central Bankof Myanmar ”
16. After the section 13 (e) of the Myanmar Mines Law, the subsection (e) (1) and (e) (2) shall be added as follow-
“(e)(1) ensure not to harm to the socioeconomic of local people and to minimized the environmental damages and reserve a fund for annual environmentalconservation”.
(e)(2) be preserving, conserving and rehabilitating the earth, and establishing a fund for reforesting the project area in accordance with the requirements stated in the mine exit plans, once the mining project or the plot has been ended or shut down.
17. The section 18 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“18. The persons who have been permitted to operate mineral productions shall, inaccordance with the rate prescribed hereunder, contribute the payable mineral tax (royalty) once he sold out the produced mineral;
(a) for gold, platinum, uranium and other precious metallic mineral that the Ministry may, with the approval of the Union Government prescribe and publish by notification from time to time, at the rate of 5%.
(b) for silver, copper, lead, tungsten, nickel, heavy sands, molybdenum, iridium,
osmium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, tantalum, columbium, niobium, thorium, cadmium, chromium, rare earth, beryllium, titanium and other precious metallic minerals that the Ministry may, with the approval of the Government prescribe and publish by notification from time to time, at the rate of 4%.
(c) for iron, zinc, lead, tin, tungsten, aluminum, arsenic, bismuth, chromium, cobalt, manganese, magnesium and other metallic mineral that the Ministry may, with the approval of the Union Government prescribe and publish by notification from time to time at the rate of 3%.
(d) For raw material of industrial minerals or stones at the rate of 2%
18. The Section 19 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“19. When contributing the mineral tax (royalty) according to Section 18 of the Law, the payable mineral tax (royalty) shall be calculated based upon the percentage of the pure metallic mineral containing and the prevailing international price of that mineral (at the time of the sale).
19. The term “Gemstone Tract” shall be deleted in the title of Chapter 7 of theMyanmar Mines Law.
20. The Section 22 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be deleted.
21. The term “or Gemstone Tract” included in Section 23 and 33 of the MyanmarMines Law shall be deleted.
22. The phrase “in any Continental Shelf ” described in Section 24 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the phrase “in the territorial Seas and Sea Zones of the State”.
23. After the section 26 (b) of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section (b) (1) shall be added as follow-
“(b)(1) inspecting the environmental impact assessment system and socioeconomicimpact assessment system in prospecting, exploring and testing, production and processing operations of mineral, industrial mineral and stones.
24. The phrase “the payment of fine” described in Section 28 (b) of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the phrase “the fine not less than the amount of security deposit”.
25.Section 30 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“30. (a) Whoever carries out any of the following operations without the permitissued under this Law shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term up to 10 years or with fine which may extend to kyats 5,000,000 (up to five million kyats) or with both;
(1) Prospecting, exploration, or processing of metallic mineral;
(2) Prospecting, exploration, or processing of raw material of industrial minerals;
(3) Prospecting, exploration, or processing of stones;
(4) Carrying out the mineral processing without obtaining the buying and selling permit;
(5) Production of mineral except those who produces the same with the subsistence production permit.
26. After the section 30(a) of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section (a) (1) shall be added as follow-
“30 (a)(1) Whoever carries out any of the offences set out in Section 30 (a) againwithout the permit issued under this Law shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term of 10 years or with fine which may be extended from the range of minimum 1,000,000 kyats to maximum 5,000,000 kyats (up to five million kyats);
27. The phrase “imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years or with fine which may extend to kyats 20,000 or with both.” provided in Section 31 of theMyanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the phrase “imprisonment for a termwhich may extend to 3 years or with fine which may extend to kyats 2,000,000 (up
to two million kyats) or with both
28. After the section 31 of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section 31. (a) shall be revised as follow-
“31. (a) Whoever violates any of the prohibitions prescribed under section 29 shall,on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term of 3 years as maximum or with fine which may be extended from the range of 500,000 Kyats as minimum to 2,000,000 kyats as maximum.
29. The phrase “imprisonment for a term up to 1 year or with fine which may extend to kyats 10,000 or with both.” provided in Section 32 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the phrase “imprisonment for a term which may extend to (1) one years or with fine which may extend to kyats 1,000,000 (up to one million kyats) or with both.
30. After the section 32 of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section 32- A shall be revised as follow-
“32- A. The holder of a permit who violates and fail to obey any of the rules relating to section 13 again shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 1 year or with fine which may extend from 200,000 kyats (two hundred thousand) as minimum to kyats 1,000,000 (one million) asmaximum or with both.”
21. The term “or Gemstone Tract” included in Section 23 and 33 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be deleted.
31.The phrase “imprisonment for a term up to 6 months or with fine which may extend to kyats 5,000 or with both.” provided in Section 33 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the phrase “imprisonment for a term which may extend to 6 months or with fine which may extend to kyats 500,000 (up to five hundred thousand kyats) or with both.
32. After the section 33 of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section 33- A shall be added as follow-
“33 –A Whoever violates any of the prohibitions prescribed under section 33 again shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term that can be extended up to 6 months or with fine which may be extended up to 500,000 Kyats.
33. After the section 35 of the Myanmar Mines Law, the sub-section 35- A shall be added as follow-
“35 - (a) Regarding the mineral production, the Ministry may form joint venture or partnership with the permit holder and in doing so, it shall be based on pro rata basis or profit share basis on production including costs of environmental impact assessment, or profit share basis on equity contribution.
34. The section 36 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“36. All payments due under this Law shall be duly collected as it is regarded as thepayable unsettled income tax. In order to implement this, the officer assigned by the respective Ministry shall have the right to exercise the power of the collector officer in accordance with the existing laws.
35. The section 39 of the Myanmar Mines Law shall be replaced with the following-“39. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Law:-
(a) the Ministry may, with the approval of the Union Government, issue such rules and procedures as may be necessary;
(b) the Ministry may issue such notifications, orders and directives as may be necessary;
(c) the Directorate may, with the consent of the Ministry, issue such orders and directives as may be necessary;
I hereby signed in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Thein Sein,
President,
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar