According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, the Parliamentary Industries and Mines Commission finally approved the general plan to amend the articles of the country's mining law, regardless of the opinions of the mining organizations and the Parliamentary Research Center.

The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association called this amendment the destroyer of this sector and the flight of investors. Ahmad Sharifi believes that the reform plan of the Parliamentary Mining Committee contradicts the spirit of the Mining Law, and that this amendment will eliminate any investment in the mining sector. Read the full description of this interview below.

The general plan for amending the articles of the country's mining law was approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Industries and Mines on the proposal of the Mining Committee. What is your initial impression of this plan?

We are afraid that no expert work has been done on the proposed amendment to the Mining Law. This amendment destroys investment in the mining sector, and its proposals are bizarre.

It is better to analyze the materials separately so that its flaws can be better criticized; Article 3 of the amendment proposes to add five notes to Article 8 of the Mining Law. Note 2 of the proposed amendment states: "If the holder of the discovery certificate does not obtain the exploitation license within the period specified in the law, the said priority right will be revoked and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade is obliged to submit it through a public call for transfer." "The area should apply to applicants with technical and financial qualifications." What is the problem of deprivation of the right of priority in this note?

According to the proposed note, this right has been given to the Ministry of Silence and the provincial silent organizations so that if for any reason the exploitation license is not issued or postponed, the right of the discoverer who paid the exploration fee and discovered a range after a year or less, Deprive him and provide conditions for the mine to be auctioned off and out of the explorer's control.

It is surprising why Article 8 of the Mining Law, which clearly defines the rights of explorers and exploiters and creates investment security, has taken this security away from the mining activist with its amendment? If it is emphasized that the mine will be assigned within the one year specified in the law, the amendment should ask the ministry whether the person is obliged to respond within 6 months from the time a person applies for a mining license to the Provincial Silence Organization. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the bureaucracy in the amendment, not to destroy the right of the miner and his investment security.

Note 4 of the same article states: "The mining license of all operators is valid only for the amount of reserves mentioned in the exploration license and they are allowed to withdraw the same amount from the reserves of the relevant mines." "If the reserves of any mineral increase, the increased reserves belong to the government, which according to this law will be given to the qualified applicants through auctions." What is the legal justification for handing over new mining reserves to the government?

An important point made in the amendment, and it is very dangerous, is that during the exploration operation, they have discovered the exploiter or the investor who has obtained the exploitation license, and the exact amount of reserve is specified in his discovery certificate. At present, in 99% of the mines and 10,000 mines in the country, when they obtain exploitation licenses, they also carry out additional exploration work at the time of exploitation and extraction.

But this comment says that the miner has no additional exploration rights when extracting, and the government (government institutions) must do so, and if a new mineral is discovered, it belongs to the government. Not only is the government now unable to enter the mining sector, but it does not even have the necessary funding for large areas of the country where exploration has not yet taken place. The government gives large areas of exploration to the private sector and public non-governmental organizations to come and exploit, so how is it that when it is not able to do so, it should enter, but a miner who owns a mine, machinery, engineers and workers is not allowed? Do additional exploration.

What happens to this comment?

Exploiters do not make further exploration and do not disclose even if they find new material, and the mines operate at the same rate as the exploration permit issued to them and are then abandoned. This proposal of the parliament is in order to abandon the mines, and it should be asked which common sense has prepared this clause?

In Article 4 of this amendment, three notes have been added to Article 9 of the law, Note 1 of which states: "Exploitation licenses for mines whose progress rate is less than 50%, can not be traded."

It's so weird. The person who wrote this paragraph should know that when someone receives a certificate of discovery, in the issued certificate, the extractable reserve and the definitive reserve are clear. The amount of monthly extraction and the report of the amount of loaded stone are also available and there is no need to enter the official expert of the judiciary. On the other hand, there are numbers, figures and statistics of each mine in the silence organization of the relevant province and there is no need for this article and comment. Therefore, the remark given here is in line with the prohibition that has been placed in the above remarks for exploitation and exploration during extraction. In the first amendment note, the exploiter is handcuffed and said that he cannot trade on this license until he has loaded and sold 50% of his mineral.

Do you think that these amendments and their proposed notes are in line with the requirements of the mining sector in terms of expertise, expertise and technology?

I am sorry to say that those who wrote this plan did not consult or consult the private sector of the mine (the Mining House, the Stone Association, the Union of Mineral Producers and Exporters, etc.). All the topics of the reform plan are unprofessional and emanate from a certain mental angle of some people, which is dangerous for the country and the development of investment.

In this amendment, to Article 12 of the Mining Law, the note "The government is obliged to delegate the duties and powers of the Supreme Council of Mines to the" Provincial Mining Council "in order to support, develop and promote the position of the mining sector and mining industries in the national economy." To what extent does this separation of responsibilities pave the way for the mining sector?

First, the Supreme Council of Mines has been formed and has a signature. In the previous parliamentary resolution, which discussed the Provincial Council of Mines, the composition of the provincial councils is very different from the composition of the Supreme Council of Mines.

Why?

In the provincial council of the mining sector, only the head of the Samat organization of that province is present, and it is completely different from the composition of the Supreme Council of Mines. If a provincial council is to be formed, the same composition of the Supreme Council must be observed in the provincial council. The law should also state how to delegate the duties of the Supreme Council to the Provincial Council. What cases have been delegated to the provincial council and the provincial council should also send its work report to the Supreme Council.

Pursuant to Note 6 of Article 14, the operator is obliged to pay 15% of the government salary directly under the supervision of the city planning council with the approval of the provincial planning council and the governor to create infrastructure, civil works, agriculture and welfare and development of the city with priority given to the mine. Is, the cost is slow. In case of exploitation of the exploiter, the city prosecutor will take the necessary measures to implement this law.

Are miners opposed to this operating cost?

No, we are not against this clause and we can even look for a solution to make this happen faster.

In the amended note of Article 14, the operators of medium and above mines are obliged to invest at least 40% of their net profit in the downstream industries of the relevant industry or other industries of the mining city. The governor, the city and province planning councils, and the provincial mines council are overseeing this issue, and their votes are binding on the beneficiaries.

This note refers to "medium to high miners". What do you mean?

 What does it mean to have medium to high mines? Does the Mining Law provide for medium to high mines? There are no such mines in the country at all! When it is said that these mines should invest 40% of their net profit in downstream industries, one should first define medium to high mines and then get 40% of their profits and income. This clause destroys the security of the investment.

In the introduction of this amendment, some words and terms have been mentioned, based on which the amendment plan of the parliament has been written. Words and phrases such as the formation of the country's mine ownership mafia, mining brokers, the acquisition and sale of large mines by special mafias, the emergence of rents, etc.

The person who receives the discovery certificate can hand it over to another person at most once. If someone wants to hand over his mine, should he be called a miner? If we stop this transfer, the mine will be closed.

Prior to the recent parliamentary amendment, an amendment had been prepared by the Iranian Chamber of Commerce. Explain about that amendment, where did it go?

Yes, we worked on it a lot; We keyed in the amendment of the Mining Law to facilitate mining activities in the Mining House, the Stone Association, and other organizations, and the Ministry of Silence had an effective presence. This work went ahead and the three-member committee reached a conclusion on it. In this way, we amended a number of articles of the Mining Law that created barriers to investment in the mining sector, and its meetings were held in the Mines and Mining Industries Commission of the Iran Chamber. At that time, the points we had were raised in the meetings of the commission and amendments were made. Eventually, the proposals of the ministry and the organizations were summarized and were to be submitted to the parliament as a bill by the Ministry of Silence and the government, which got stuck in the government.

What year was it?

1397. But that whole proposed amendments remained in the ministry forever and were archived.

Why?

I do not know. It was said that the Ministry of Silence should pursue it as a trustee, which it did not. The reason we did not pursue was that the current mining law does not seem to me to be a big problem, but the thinking of different people in parliament and government not only does not create a positive point in the changes and amendments, but also becomes a problem for the mining sector. At that time, when we met with the parliamentary industry commission and experts who were elsewhere and made comments, we saw that although we want to make the law easier for investors and create security, but those views on investment and mining development and the current mining law , Is negative. So we said it would be better to keep the current law.

What is the main problem of the mining law?

The problem is that law enforcement does not follow the law. All our quarrels and discussions with the Ministry of Silence are about enforcing the provisions of the Mining Law. For example, Article 24 of the Mining Law on Natural Resources, the Environment and other organizations must be approved. The Ministry of Silence has acted in such a way that the works have been transferred to natural resources and the mines have been closed.

How?

In 1397, with the agreement signed at the time of the theft between the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Industries of the Ministry of Silence and the Forests, Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization, the law was repealed. Since then, the Ministry of Silence no longer has sovereignty over the mining law, and the Forest Organization decides. In these circumstances, mining and mining have no investment security. Article 24 of the Mining Law states that natural resources, the environment or other organizations are required to comment only once for the entire mineral area requested for exploration. But the practice is such that natural resources agree to the request of one square kilometer of space for exploration with only two hectares, which is also a matter of taste. Another controversy in the current mining law, which has undermined investor security, is local dissent. The miners' dispute with the Ministry of Silence is that the local opposition that comes up with the ministry and the provincial silence organization must support and eliminate the mine. But nowhere have the Ministry of Silence and its affiliated organizations supported the mine and the miner.

The Ministry of Silence and the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Industries have a sovereign position in the Mining Law. Have they ever been committed to their duties?

The law is good, but the lawmakers have damaged it. Jafar Sarghini did not have a developmental view of the mining and mineral industries during his tenure as deputy, and more than 50 percent of the country's mines were closed during these years.

In the past few years, a working group has been set up in the ministry to rehabilitate small mines, but the members of the working group have been locked in the ministry and any resolution passed by the working group has been blocked and not implemented. As an example, in a meeting with this working group in 1398, the Stone Association undertook to activate 50 stopped decorative stone mines. The association inspected about 20 mines, and a year ago, a list of 11 mines was sent to the Mines Rehabilitation Working Group. The working group also approved this issue, but unfortunately, after sending dozens of letters from the association and ... to the deputy of Samat Mining, no action has been taken on it so far. They did not even allow it to reach the agenda of the Supreme Council of Mines. Each time in the area of ​​the Deputy Minister of Mines and the General Directorate of Exploitation, they would make excuses and stop the work.

How do you see the role and position of the High Council of Mines in the mining sector? Has it been able to facilitate mining?

I must say with regret that the High Council of Mines had become a tool in the hands of the former Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Silence, and Sarghini entrusted many inherent and definite duties of the ministry that had nothing to do with the council and signed and promulgated many contradictory directives. Was to open the deputy. It also delegated its powers to the council and communicated it with the approval of the council. While 80 to 90 percent of the council's approvals should not have gone to the council at all, and the deputy for mining should have decided and done it himself or the provincial silence organization. But in this case, Sarghini did not allow the provincial silence organizations to be facilitators.

What are the expectations of mining organizations from the Mining Committee and the Parliamentary Industries Commission?

The best experts in the mining sector and the mining industry of the country are present in the private mining sector organizations and are ready to provide their information and experiences in any field that the government and parliament need in writing and in person.

What would you say if you wanted to criticize the amendment to the mining law in one sentence?

This reform plan is against the order of the production leap of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution.

* Tasnim