MINES AND MINERALS DEVELOPMENT ACT
Arrangement of Sections
Section
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Ownership of minerals
4. General principles for mining and minerals development
PART II
ADMINISTRATION
5. Director and other officers
6. Mining Licensing Committee
7. Honorary inspectors
8. Mining Cadastre Offices
9. Execution and delegation of powers and functions of Directors and other officers
10. Powers of Directors and authorised officers
11. Immunity
PART III
MINING RIGHTS AND NON-MINING RIGHTS
Division 1 — General
12. Prohibition of exploration, mining or mineral processing without licence or environmental impact assessment
13. Types of rights
14. Disqualification from holding mining rights
15. Priority of applications for mining rights
16. Mining right for area subject to other rights
17. Acquisition of mining rights by Government
18. Survey of land
19. Bids
20. Preference for Zambian products, contractors and services and employment of citizens
Division 2 — Exploration Licence
21. Application for exploration licence
22. Consideration of application for exploration licence
23. Exploration licence
24. Duration of exploration licence
25. Obligations of holder of exploration licence
26. Restrictions on removal of minerals
27. Geological survey, mapping and exploration on behalf of Republic
28. Closure of area to priority licensing
Division 3 — Mining Licence
29. Licensing of mining activities
30. Application for mining licence
31. Consideration of application for mining licence
32. Mining licence
33. Deferment of commencement of mining
34. Duration of mining licence
35. Obligations of holder of mining licence
36. Suspension of production or closure of mine by Director of Mines Safety or Director of Mines
37. Suspension of production by holder of mining or mineral processing licence
Division 4 — Mineral Processing Licence
38. Application for mineral processing licence
39. Consideration of application for mineral processing licence
40. Mineral processing licence
41. Obligations of holder of mineral processing licence
Division 5 — Gold Panning Certificate
42. Application for and grant of gold panning certificate
43. Obligations of holder of gold panning certificate
Division 6 — Mineral Trading Permit
44. Prohibition of trading in minerals without permit
45. Application for mineral trading permit
46. Obligations of holder of mineral trading permit
Division 7 — Mineral Import and Mineral Export Permits
47. Importation and exportation of minerals
48. Duration of export or import permit
Division 8 — Authorisation for radioactive minerals and minerals analysis
49. Prohibition of acquisition, selling, etc of radioactive minerals
50. Application to acquire, sell, etc radioactive minerals
51. Mineral analysis
PART IV
MINING RIGHTS AND SURFACE RIGHTS
52. Restrictions of rights of entry by holder of licence or permit
53. Exercise of rights under licence or permit
54. Right to use and access water or graze stock
55. Acquisition of use of land by holder of mining right
56. Arbitration of disputes
57. Compensation for disturbance of rights, etc
58. Rights to building materials
PART V
REGULATORY PROVISIONS
59. Single licensing system
60. Disposal of conflict mineral
61. Display of mining or non-mining right
62. Registered office
63. Insurance and indemnities
64. Restrictions on mining rights and mineral processing licence
65. Amendment of programme of exploration or mining operation
66. Transfer of mining or mineral processing licence
67. Transfer of control of company
68. Alteration of exploration or mining area
69. Mergers or co-ordination of mining operations
70. Abandonment of land subject to mining or non-mining right
71. Surrender of mining right or mineral processing licence
72. Suspension or revocation of mining right or mineral processing licence
73. Surrender of records on termination of mining or non-mining right
74. Management of assets on suspension, abandonment or revocation of mining or non-mining right
75. Compliance order
76. Renewal of mining or non-mining right
77. Annual charge
78. Production of information
79. Registers
PART VI
SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
80. Consideration of environment and human health when granting mining rights or mineral processing licences
81. Conditions for protection of environment and human health
82. Clearing away of mining or mineral processing plant
83. Sale of mining or mineral processing plant
84. Wasteful mining practices
85. Notification of accidents and dangerous occurrences
86. Environmental Protection Fund
87. Liability and redress
PART VII
MINERAL ROYALTIES AND CHARGES
88. Collection and assessment of mineral royalty
89. Royalties on production of minerals
90. Due date for mineral royalty
91. Mineral royalty returns
92. Provisional assessment of mineral royalty
93. Remission of mineral royalties
94. Deferment of mineral royalties
95. Prohibition of disposal of minerals
PART VIII
MINING APPEALS TRIBUNAL
96. Notification of decisions
97. Appeals against decision of Directors or Committee
98. Mining Appeals Tribunal
99. Decision of Tribunal
100. Appeals to High Court
101. Rules
PART IX
OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
102. Failure to appoint manager
103. Notice of accidents
104. Endangering safety and health of persons employed in mine
105. Working in suspended or closed mine
106. Prohibition of conduct with dangerous results
107. Obstruction of holder of mining or non-mining right
108. Offences relating to records and reports
109. Permitting unqualified person to prepare reports
110. Use of false certificates
111. Offences related to mining
112. General penalty
113. Mingling samples of ore
114. Offence committed by body corporate or unincorporated body
PART X
GENERAL PROVISIONS
115. Summary imposition of penalties
116. Recovery of fees
117. Disclosure of information
118. Electronic submissions and payments
119. Regulations
120. Repeal of Act No. 7 of 2008
121. Transitional provisions
AN ACT
to revise the law relating to the exploration for, mining and processing of, minerals; provide for safety, health and environmental protection in mining operations; provide for the establishment of the Mining Appeals Tribunal; repeal and replace the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 2008; and provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.
[1st July, 2015]
Act 11 of 2015,
Act 14 of 2016*,
Act 18 of 2018,
Act 25 of 2020,
Act 29 of 2022.
[General Note— Section 3 of the Act 25 of 2020 deleted the words "Metal Bulletin" wherever they appeared and substituted them by the words "Fastmarkets MB".]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
This Act may be cited as the Mines and Minerals Development Act.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
"access agreement" means an agreement entered into between the holder of a mining right and an owner or occupier of land over which the mining right subsists, for the conduct of exploration, mining or other activities authorised by the mining right to be carried on upon the land;
"appropriate authority" in relation to any matter, means the Minister responsible for that matter or such public officer as the Minister may authorise to give the requisite consent in that behalf;
"artisanal mining" means an artisan’s mining operation undertaken by a citizen pursuant to a mining licence granted under Part III;
"authorised officer" means a public officer or other person designated as such under sub-section (8) of section 5;
"base metal" means iron, copper, nickel, aluminium, lead, zinc, tin, magnesium, cobalt, manganese, titanium, scandium, vanadium, molybdenum, chromium, tungsten, tantalum, bismuth, cadmium, zirconium, antimony, beryllium, germanium and rare earth elements, or a non-precious metal that is common or chemically active, or both common and chemically active;
"bird sanctuary" has the meaning assigned to it in the Zambia Wildlife Act;
"cadastre unit" means a quadrilateral formed by the intersection of meridians and parallels and with a distance equal to six sexagesimal seconds, and that covers an average planimetric surface of 3.3400 hectares;
"certificate of abandonment" means the certificate granted by the Director of Mining Cadastre under section 70 at the abandonment of a mining or non-mining right;
"citizen" has the meaning assigned to it in the Constitution, and in relation to a partnership, means a partnership which is composed exclusively of citizens;
"citizen-empowered company" means a company where 25 to 50 per cent of its equity is owned by citizens;
"citizen-influenced company" has the meaning assigned to it in the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act;
"citizen-owned company" has the meaning assigned to it in the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act;
"Commissioner-General" means the Commissioner-General appointed under the Zambia Revenue Authority Act;
"Committee" means the Mining Licensing Committee established under section 6;
"Community Partnership Park" has the meaning assigned to it in the Zambia Wildlife Act;
"company" means a private or public company as defined in the Companies Act;
"conflict mineral" means a mineral which is mined from an area of armed conflict;
"co-operative" means a co-operative society established under the Co-operative Societies Act;
"day" means a calendar day;
"decision letter" means a letter issued by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency stating that—
(a) a proposed project is not likely to cause adverse effects on the environment; or
(b) a proposed project is likely to bring about adverse effects on the environment and an authorisation, licence, permit or permission should not be issued to the applicant;
"Director of Geological Survey" means the person appointed as such under paragraph (c) of sub-section (1) of section 5;
"Director of Mines" means the person appointed as such under paragraph (a) of sub-section (1) of section 5;
"Director of Mines Safety" means the person appointed as such under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section 5;
"Director of Mining Cadastre" means the person appointed as such under paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of section 5;
"Directors" means the Director of Mines, Director of Mines Safety, Director of Mining Cadastre and Director of Geological Survey;
"energy mineral" means a naturally occurring substance in the earth’s crust used as a source of energy, and includes coal, uranium and any other mineral used to generate energy, but does not include petroleum;
"environmental impact assessment" has the meaning assigned to it in the Environmental Management Act;
"exploration" means the search for a mineral by any means and carrying out of such works, and removal of such samples, as may be necessary to test the mineral bearing qualities of any land and define the extent and determine the economic value of a mineral deposit;
"exploration area" means the land covered by an exploration licence;
"exploration licence" means an exploration licence granted under section 23;
"force majeure" means an event which is beyond the reasonable control of a holder and which makes the exploration or mining operations under the licence impossible;
"Game Management Area" has the meaning assigned to it in the Zambia Wildlife Act;
"gemstone" includes amethyst, aquamarine, beryl, corundum, diamond, emerald, garnet, ruby, sapphire, topaz, tourmaline and any other non-metallic mineral substance used in the manufacture of jewellery;
"gold panning" means the process of liberating gold from a placer deposit by gentle agitation and gravity in a pan through a water course or body;
"gold panning certificate" means a certificate for gold panning granted under section 42;
"holder" means the person in whose name a mining right or non-mining right is registered under this Act;
"industrial minerals" includes a rock or mineral other than gemstones, base metals, energy minerals or precious metals used in their natural state or after physical or chemical transformation, including barites, dolomite, feldspar, fluorspar, graphite, gypsum, ironstone when used as a fluxing agent, kyanite, limestone, phyllite, magnesite, mica, nitrate, phosphate, pyrophyllite, salt, sand, clay, talc, laterite, gravel, potash, potassium minerals, granite, marble, clay, silica, diatomite, kaolin, bentonite or quartz;
"large-scale exploration" means exploration over an area covering a minimum of three hundred and one cadastre units and not exceeding fifty-nine thousand eight hundred and eighty cadastre units;
"large-scale mining" means mining over an area of a minimum of one hundred and twenty-one cadastre units and not exceeding seven thousand four hundred and eighty-five cadastre units;
"local office" means an office of the Mining Cadastre Department of the Ministry;
"mine" means any place, pit, shaft, drive, level or other opening or excavation, and any drift, gutter, lead, vein, lode, reef, saltpan or working, in or on or by means of which any operation connected with mining is carried on, together with all the works, machinery, plant, buildings, premises, erections and appliances, whether above or below the ground, that are used in connection with the operation or for the extraction, treatment or preparation of any mineral or for the purpose of dressing mineral ores;
"mineral" means any substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, occurring naturally in or on the earth or under water, formed by or subjected to a geological process, or any substance occurring in tailing dams, slag dumps, waste rock dumps, residue waste rock dumps, residue stockpiles or residue deposit, but excludes—
(a) water, other than water taken from the land or any water body for the extraction of any mineral from that water; and
(b) petroleum;
"mineral processing" means the practice of beneficiating or liberating valuable minerals from their ores which may combine a number of unit operations such as crushing, grinding, sizing, screening, classification, washing, froth floatation, gravity concentration, electrostatic separation, magnetic separation, leaching, smelting, refining, calcining and gasification or any other processes incidental thereto;
"mineral processing licence" means a licence granted under Part III for processing minerals and cutting, polishing and manufacturing jewellery;
"mineral processing operations" means an operation carried out under a mineral processing licence;
"mineral product" means any mineral substance, in any form, extracted for commercial purposes pursuant to a mining right, or any product obtained from the mineral substance by way of mineral processing;
"mineral royalty" means a payment received as consideration for the extraction of minerals;
"mineral trading permit" means a mineral trading permit granted under Part III;
"mining" means the extraction of material, whether solid, liquid or gaseous, from land or from beneath the surface of the earth in order to win minerals, or any operations directly or indirectly necessary or incidental to the extraction of the material;
"mining area" means an area of land subject to a licence under this Act;
"Mining Cadastre Office" means the central administrative office for processing applications for mining rights and mineral processing licences established pursuant to section 8;
"mining licence" means a mining licence granted under section 32;
"mining operations" means an operation carried out under a mining right, excluding an operation carried out under an exploration licence or mineral processing licence;
"mining plant" means any building, plant, machinery, equipment, tools or other property used for mining, whether or not affixed to land, excluding any timber or other material used or applied in the construction or support of any shaft, drive, gallery, terrace, race, dam or other work;
"mining right" means a right granted under sub-section (1) of section 13;
"non-mining right" means a mineral processing licence or mineral trading permit granted under this Act;
"open cast mining operations" means any working or excavation open to the surface beneath the original surface of the ground for the purpose of mining, but excludes prospecting pits;
"ore" means a natural aggregate of one or more minerals which may be mined and sold at a profit or from which some parts may be profitably extracted;
"petroleum" has the meaning assigned to it in the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, but does not include coal;
"person" includes a partnership and co-operative;
"precious metal" means gold, platinum, palladium, indium, osmium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, selenium and silver, or any other relatively scarce, highly corrosion resistant metal of high economic value;
"radioactive mineral" means a mineral which contains by weight at least one-twentieth of one per cent of uranium or thorium or any combination thereof, including—
(a) monazite, sand and other ores containing thorium; and
(b) carnotite, pitchblende and other ores containing uranium;
"regional certificate" means a forgery resistant document with a format that identifies a shipment of specified minerals as having complied with the requirements of a regional mineral tracking and certification scheme;
"regional mining cadastre offices" means mining cadastre offices established in districts throughout the Republic, other than Lusaka, to enable the public lodge applications for mining rights and non-mining rights;
"register" means a register established and maintained pursuant to section 79;
"registered office" means an office of a holder for the purpose of delivery of correspondence, service of notices or documents and for the storage of records as provided under this Act;
"repealed Act" means the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 2008;
"single licensing system" has the meaning assigned to it in the Business Regulatory Act;
"small-scale exploration" means exploration over an area covering a minimum of three cadastre units and not exceeding three hundred cadastre units;
"small-scale mining" means mining over an area covering a minimum of three cadastre units and not exceeding one hundred and twenty cadastre units;
"technical committee" means a technical committee established by the Minister to evaluate bids under section 19;
"Tribunal" means the Mining Appeals Tribunal established under section 98;
"underground mining operations" means any working beneath the surface of the ground, which is accessed by means of a ramp, adit, raise, shaft or winze, but does not include an open pit mine or quarry;
"wildlife sanctuary" has the meaning assigned to it in the Zambia Wildlife Act; and
"Zambia Environmental Management Agency" means the Zambia Environmental Management Agency established under the Environmental Management Act.
(2) A reference in this Act to land subject to a mining right or mineral processing licence means a reference to an area of land in respect of which a mining right or mineral processing licence has been granted and subsists.
(1) All rights of ownership in, searching for, mining and disposing of, minerals wheresoever located in the Republic vest in the President on behalf of the Republic.
(2) This section has effect notwithstanding any right, title or interest which a person may possess in or over the soil in, on or under which minerals are found.
4. General principles for mining and minerals development
The following principles shall apply to the mining and development of minerals—
(a) mineral resources are a non-renewable resource and shall be conserved, developed and used prudently, taking into account the needs of the present and future generations;
(b) mineral resources shall be explored and developed in a manner that promotes and contributes to socio-economic development and in accordance with international conventions to which Zambia is a party;
(c) the exploitation of minerals shall ensure safety, health and environmental protection;
(d) wasteful mining practices shall be avoided so as to promote sustainable development and prevent adverse environmental effects;
(e) citizens shall have equitable access to mineral resources and benefit from mineral resources development; and
(f) development of local communities in areas surrounding the mining area based on prioritisation of community needs, health and safety.
PART II
ADMINISTRATION
5. Directors and other officers
(1) The Public Service Commission shall appoint as public officers—
(a) the Director of Mines;
(b) the Director of Mines Safety;
(c) the Director of Geological Survey; and
(d) the Director of Mining Cadastre.
(2) The Directors referred to in sub-section (1) shall exercise and perform the powers and functions conferred or imposed upon the Directors by or under this Act or any other written law.
(3) The Director of Mines shall supervise and regulate the proper and effectual development of mines and conduct of mining operations in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(4) The Director of Mines Safety shall have responsibility for matters concerning the environment, public health and safety in exploration, mineral processing and mining operations.
(5) The Director of Geological Survey shall—
(a) undertake the geological mapping of Zambia and exploration operations on behalf of the Republic;
(b) advise the Minister on geological matters;
(c) provide data concerning the geology and mineral resources of Zambia, and assist members of the public on information concerning geological matters; and
(d) maintain such laboratory and library and record facilities as may be necessary for the performance of the functions under this Act.
(6) The Director of Mining Cadastre shall be responsible for the administration of mining rights and mineral processing licences.
(7) The Public Service Commission shall appoint such other public officers as may be necessary for the administration of this Act.
(8) The Directors may, by Gazette notice, designate any public officer to be an authorised officer for the purpose of the exercise and performance of all or any of the functions conferred on an authorised officer by the provisions of this Act.
(9) An authorised officer shall be provided with a certificate of appointment, which shall be prima facie evidence of the authorised officer’s designation as such.
(10) An authorised officer shall, on demand by a person affected by the exercise of any power under this Act, produce for inspection the authorised officer’s certificate of appointment.
(11) The Minister may attach the Director of Mines, Director of Mines Safety or Director of Geological Survey or an authorised officer to exploration, mining or mineral processing operations, border posts or mineral product trading centres in order to enforce the provisions of this Act.
(1) There is established the Mining Licensing Committee which shall —
(a) consider applications for mining rights and non-mining rights and grant, renew or refuse to grant or renew mining rights and non-mining rights;
(b) terminate, suspend or cancel mining rights and non-mining rights;
(c) amend the terms and conditions of mining rights and non-mining rights; and
(d) advise the Minister on matters relating to its functions under this Act.
(2) The Committee shall consist of the following members who shall be appointed by the Minister—
(a) the Director of Mines;
(b) the Director of Geological Survey;
(c) the Director of Mines Safety;
(d) the Director of Mining Cadastre who shall be secretary;
(e) one representative each of the Ministries responsible for—
(i) the environment;
(ii) land;
(iii) finance; and
(iv) labour; and
(f) a representative of—
(i) the Attorney-General;
(ii) the Zambia Development Agency; and
(iii) the Engineering Institution of Zambia.
(3) A person shall not be appointed as a member of the Committee if the person—
(a) is an undischarged bankrupt;
(b) has been convicted of an offence under this Act or any other relevant written law;
(c) has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty; or
(d) has a mental or physical disability that makes the person incapable of performing the functions of a member.
(4) The Minister shall, where practicable ensure equitable gender representation when appointing the members of the Committee.
(5) The Minister shall appoint the Chairperson of the Committee and the members shall elect the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee from amongst themselves.
(6) The Committee may, in considering an application under this Act, consult any person in the area to which an application for a mining or non-mining right relates who may be affected by the grant, termination, suspension, cancellation or renewal of a mining or non-mining right.
(7) The Minister shall, where the Minister disposes of any matter contrary to the advice of the Committee, furnish the Committee with a statement, in writing, of the Minister’s reasons for doing so.
(8) The provisions of the Schedule apply to the Committee.
(1) The Minister may, in consultation with the Directors, by notice in the Gazette, on such terms and conditions as the Minister may specify in the notice, appoint any suitably qualified person as an honorary inspector.
(2) The appointment of an honorary inspector may be—
(a) general, so that the honorary inspector is empowered to act in any part of the Republic, in a mining area or other area specified in the notice of appointment; or
(b) limited, so that the honorary inspector is empowered to act in areas of the honorary inspector’s residence including a mining area as may be specified in the notice of appointment.
(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the terms of the notice of appointment, an honorary inspector shall, within the terms of appointment, exercise the functions and perform the duties of an authorised officer.
(1) There shall be a Mining Cadastre Office which shall—
(a) receive and process applications for mining rights and mineral processing licences;
(b) administer mining rights and mineral processing licences; and
(c) maintain public cadastral maps and cadastre registers.
(2) The Ministry shall establish regional mining cadastre offices which shall receive applications for mining rights and forward the applications for processing by the Mining Cadastre Office.
9. Execution and delegation of powers and functions of Directors and other officers
(1) Where an office referred to in sub-section (1) of section 5 is vacant or the holder of the office is, owing to illness or other cause, unable to exercise or perform the powers and functions of office, the Public Service Commission shall appoint another person to exercise or perform the powers and functions of that office.
(2) The holder of an office referred to in sub-section (1) may, by Gazette Notice, and subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified in the Notice, delegate to any public officer the exercise or performance of any of the powers and functions conferred or imposed on the holder of the office by this Act.
(3) The holder of an office referred to in sub-section (1) may exercise or perform a power or function despite the delegation of the exercise or performance of the power or function to some other person.
10. Powers of Directors and authorised officers
(1) The Directors or an authorised officer may, at any reasonable time, enter upon a mining area or any premises or working on or under the mining area to—
(a) inspect the area, premises or workings and examine exploration, mining or mineral processing operations or the treatment of minerals at the area, working or premises;
(b) ascertain whether or not the provisions of this Act or the conditions of a mining right or non-mining right are being complied with;
(c) ascertain whether or not any nuisance exists upon the area, land or mine or in the premises or workings;
(d) give directions and take steps to enforce any provision of this Act or to abate or remove any nuisance;
(e) take soil samples or specimens of rocks, ore concentrates, tailings, minerals or any other material from the area, premises or workings for the purpose of examination or assay;
(f) examine books, accounts, vouchers, documents, maps, drilling logs or records of any kind; or
(g) obtain any information necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Directors or an authorised officer may, at any reasonable time, inspect and make copies of any book, account, voucher, document, map, drill logs or record kept by a holder of a mining right or non-mining right for purposes of this Act.
(3) A holder of a mining right or non-mining right shall provide such reasonable assistance as is required to enable the Directors or an authorised officer to exercise or perform any power or function under this section.
(4) A person who, without reasonable excuse, delays, hinders or obstructs the Directors or an authorised officer in the exercise or performance of any power or function under this section commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.
The Directors or an authorised officer shall not be liable for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or performance, or purported exercise or performance, of any power or function conferred or imposed on the Directors or authorised officers by or under this Act.
PART III
MINING RIGHTS AND NON-MINING RIGHTS
Division 1 — General
12. Prohibition of exploration, mining or mineral processing without licence or environmental impact assessment
(1) A person shall not explore for minerals or carry on mining operations, mineral processing operations or gold panning except under the authority of a mining right, mineral processing licence or gold panning certificate granted under this Act.
(2) A person shall not undertake exploration, mining or mineral processing activities without obtaining the prior written approval of the environmental impact assessment relating to the exploration, mining or mineral processing operations by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency as provided under section 29 of the Environmental Management Act.
(3) A person who contravenes sub-section (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction—
(a) in the case of an individual, a partnership or co-operative, to a fine not exceeding seven hundred thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both; or
(b) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine of five million penalty units.
(1) The following mining rights may be granted under this Act—
(a) an exploration licence; and
(b) a mining licence.
(2) The following non-mining rights may be granted under this Act—
(a) a mineral processing licence;
(b) a mineral trading permit;
(c) mineral import permit;
(d) mineral export permit; and
(e) gold panning certificate.
(3) A mining right over an area between a minimum of two cadastre units and a maximum of one hundred and twenty cadastre units in extent shall only be granted to the following companies—
(a) citizen-influenced company;
(b) citizen-empowered company; and
(c) citizen-owned company.
(4) A mining right over an area exceeding two cadastre units shall only be granted to a company.
14. Disqualification from holding mining rights
(1) A mining right or non-mining right shall not be granted to any person except in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) A mining right or non-mining right shall not be granted to or held by a company which—
(a) is in liquidation, other than liquidation which forms part of a scheme for the reconstruction of the company or for its amalgamation with another company;
(b) is not incorporated under the Companies Act;
(c) has not established a registered office in Zambia; or
(d) has among its directors or shareholders holding more than 10 per cent of the issued equity of the company, a person who—
(i) is or becomes an undischarged bankrupt under any written law, or enters into an agreement or composition with creditors, or takes advantage of a legal process for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors; or
(ii) has been convicted, within the previous five years, of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, or of an offence under this Act or any other written law within or outside Zambia, and sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine.
(3) A mining right or non-mining right shall not be granted to or held by an individual who—
(a) is under the age of 18 years;
(b) is or becomes an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any written law, or enters into any agreement or composition with creditors, or takes advantage of any legal process for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors; or
(c) has been convicted, within the previous five years, of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, or of an offence under this Act or any other written law within or outside Zambia and sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine.
(4) A document or transaction purporting to grant a mining right or a non-mining right to any person not entitled to hold the right under this Act is void.
15. Priority of applications for mining rights
Subject to this Act, where more than one person apply for a mining right over the same area of land, the Committee shall dispose of the applications in the order in which they are received.
16. Mining right for area subject to other rights
(1) An applicant for a mining right over an area subject to another mining right shall apply for consent from the holder of the mining right, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(2) A holder of a mining right over an area in respect of which an application is made under sub-section (1) may, within a period of 90 days, give consent, in writing, to the applicant if—
(a) the minerals or metals applied for are different from those indicated on the holder’s licence;
(b) the geographical position of the minerals or metals applied for is different from the holder’s resource indicated in the approved programme of operations; and
(c) the geographical location of the application for the mining right does not compromise the integrity of the exploration or mining programme of the holder of the existing mining right.
(3) An applicant shall, where a holder of a mining right over an area in respect of which the application is made withholds consent, apply to the Minister, who shall determine the matter taking into account the matters referred to in sub-section (2).
17. Acquisition of mining rights by Government
(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Government may acquire mining rights for Government investment over identified areas.
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