A Mining Lease is required prior engaging in any mining activities in the Solomon Islands. An intending Applicant for a Mining Lease must first carry out prospecting activities and notify the Director of Mines of any discoveries they find. Find out more about the process for applying for a Prospecting Licence here.
See below an overview of the process for applying for a Mining Lease.
Intending Applicants for a Mining Lease must fulfil the following :
Before lodging an Application for a Mining Lease, the intending Applicant must consult the Director of Mines and request a meeting with the Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification to negotiate the terms and conditions of the Mining Lease, which may, amongst other conditions, include participation by the Government of Solomon Islands in the sharing of production, revenues, profits or in the equity capital of the mining company.
Any agreement between the intending Applicant and the Minister will be reduced to writing.
The Prospecting Licence Holder must organise a mining company under the Companies Act which shall be controlled as agreed with the Minister.
Alternatively, intending Applicants may request a meeting with the Minister to negotiate terms and conditions before applying.
The Government of Solomon Islands may also enter into agreements to allow a mining company to develop minerals.
The Minister may also establish appropriate modalities and procedures to coordinate the issue and grant of a Mining Lease.
Holders of a Prospecting Licence are required to notify the Director of Mines of a commercial discovery as soon as is practicable under the Mines and Minerals Act.
The Director of Mines may, at any stage and in consultation with the Applicant, enter into negotiations with landowners or any person or group of persons that have an interest in the land to acquire Surface Access Rights for mining and make arrangement for the Applicant to make payment to the landowners of the following :
If no disputes arise as a result of the negotiations, all terms and conditions will be reduced to writing as an agreement which will serve as evidence of the landowners and/or land holding groups having rights over land in the mining area and the amount of surface rental and/or compensation for damage is payable.
Prospecting Licence Application Process pdf Mines and Minerals Act (369 KB)
The Applicant must produce a Feasibility Study of the intended mining activities for the discovered mineral ores.
Intending Applicants are encouraged to contact the Director of Mines for guidance on the specific details of the Feasibility Study.
Intending Applicants for a Mining Lease who desire to meet with the Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification must do so by consulting the Director of Mines.
Negotiations with the Minister will establish the terms and conditions of the Mining Lease, which may, amongst other conditions, include participation by the Government of Solomon Islands in the sharing of production, revenues, profits or in the equity capital of the mining company.
Any agreement between the intending Applicant and the Minister will be reduced to writing.
The Prospecting Licence Holder must organise a mining company under the Companies Act which shall be controlled as agreed with the Minister.
Where the Mines & Minerals Board if of the opinion that an application for a Mining Lease is/will be acceptable, and where the Applicant has not previously acquired Surface Access Rights for mining, the Minister will inform the Applicant in writing of his intention to issue the Mining Lease pending the acquisition of Surface Access Rights by the Director.
If the intending Applicant has acquired Surface Access Rights for mining at the time of their Application, the Minister may grant the Applicant a Mining Lease subject to the provisions of the Act. A copy of the written intention to grant a Mining Lease will then be provided to the appropriate Provincial Secretary by the Director of Mines.
pdf Mines And Minerals Act (369 KB)
Where a commercial discovery has been made, the Director may at any stage consult the Applicant and enter into negotiations with landowners and/or any person or groups of persons who have an interest in the land to acquire Surface Access Rights for mining and make arrangements for the payment by the Applicant to the landowners for the following :
Where there is no dispute and an agreement is reached by all parties, a written agreement will be drafted that captures the terms and conditions of the negotiations. A copy of this agreement will be provided to the appropriate Provincial Secretary.
Rates for surface rental and for compensation for damage are prescribed by the Minister and do not take into consideration any value of the land by reason of the existence of the minerals in the land.
All surface rentals shall be paid into a Trust Account at periods specified in the Mining Lease or in the agreement that resulted from negotiations amongst parties.
The Director will consult landowners and appoint Trustees for the Trust Account and make distributions from the account to beneficiaries.
If it is determined that the negotiations for Surface Access Rights for mining between parties cannot be concluded on a basis acceptable to all parties or if there are delays with the negotiations that are considered to not be in the public interest, the Minister may consult with the Minister of Lands, Housing and Survey to exercise his powers of Compulsory Acquisition to acquire the land and secure the Surface Access Rights.
In the case of Compulsory Acquisition, the Minister may also require that the acquired land be transferred ti the Prospecting Licence who has made the Commercial Discovery.
When determining reasonable compensation for land, or a right to land, that has been compulsorily acquired, the following will be taken into account :
Applications for a Mining Lease are made to the Director of Mines and must be made no less than 90 days prior to the expiry of the Applicant's Prospecting Licence.
The Application must provide the following information :
Each Application must be accompanied by evidence of payment of appropriate Application Fees.
If the Mines and Minerals Board determine an Application to be acceptable a Letter of Intent will be forwarded to the Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification for his signature along with the minutes of the Board meeting.
The Applicant will be notified of the status of their Application, whether their Application was approved or not.
Applications that wholly or partly overlap with a pending or an existing Prospecting Licence or Mining Lease will be refused.
The Mines & Minerals Board will consider whether received Applications meet established requirements (the Board may require other factors which may be deemed relevant).
The Board may impose security or compliance bonds as it sees fit.
The Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification will notify the Attorney General and the relevant Provincial Secretary of the Mining Lease.
The Director of Mines will notify Applicants of the status of their Application.
The Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification may grant a Mining Lease to an Applicant where he/she is satisfied that all requirements have been met and that the following has been satisfied :
An Application for a Mining Lease may be rejected if the above are not met, if the Applicant fails to propose changes to the Mining Lease in a satisfactory manner or if the Applicant is in default and fails to rectify the situation in the manner suggested.
The Director of Mines will notify all applicants of Decisions made by the Mines & Minerals Board pertaining to their Applications.
During the course of a year the Board schedules four ordinary meetings, 1 at the end of each quarter, and extraordinary meetings which are held to address certain issues concerning the Minerals Board that require the urgent deliberation by the Board.
To follow up on your application, please Contact the Director of Mines.
Registration of Mining Lease: where a Mining Lease is granted, the Holder of the Mining Lease must apply in writing to the Registrar of Titles for it to be registered. Every Mining Lease must be executed by the Holder within the period specified in the lease or within a reasonable time that must not exceed 6 months from the date of granting of the lease.
Duration: a Mining Lease is valid for the period specified in the issued lease but cannot exceed 25 years.
A mining company may at any time (but not later than one year before expiry of their Mining Lease) apply to the Director of Mines for a renewal period which must not exceed 10 years.
An application for renewal of a Mining Lease must be made in writing to the Director and must be accompanied by a proposed mining plan with the following details :
Each Application for a renewal must be accompanied by a payment of appropriate Application Fees. Please consult the Director for more information.
No Mining Lease may, either partially or wholly, be transferred, assigned, mortgaged, dealt with or disposed of in any other way without the approval of the Mines & Minerals Board. Any attempt to do so without approval will be void and have no effect.
Applications for the transfer of a Mining Lease must be made in writing to the Director by the Holder of the Mining Lease and must state all details necessary to facilitate the transfer as would be required by an Application for a Mining Lease. Applications made to the Director for renewal must be accompanied by full and accurate certified copies of communications between the requesting parties.
The Board may give its approval to a transfer where the transferee is a person controlling the mining company or the mining company is under the common control of the transferor and the transferee or where the proposed transferee is a financially responsible third party and a refusal would be unreasonable. Please consult the Director for more information.
A mining company is subject to the laws of Solomon Islands and has the right to the following :
Please consult the Director for a more comprehensive discussion on mining companies rights.
A mining company is subject to the laws of the Solomon Islands and has an obligation to do the following :
Please consult the Director for a more comprehensive discussion on mining companies rights.
The Holder of a Mining Lease must pay royalties to the Government for any mineral obtained under the lease. The rate of royalty payable is prescribed by the Minister in consultation with the Minister of Finance. Fair market value of minerals at the place of mining will determine the royalty rates in accordance with instructions from the Minister.
All royalties paid will be credited to and form a Special Fund established in accordance with section 100 of the Constitution and the Minister may order payment from the Fund of royalties, not exceeding one hundred per cent to be paid to the owner of the land from or under which the minerals are obtained.
Royalties shall be paid within 90 days after the end of each month on minerals obtained in that month. If it is not possible to determine the amount of royalty to be paid, the Minister may assess a provisional royalty and, when the royalty is determined, any differences shall be addressed. Any late payment of royalty will bear interest at a rate determined by the Minister.
The Minister may, on application by the Holder of a Mining Lease and on the advice of the Board, defer payment of any royalty due or remit in whole or in part any royalty payable, for such period as he may deem necessary in the interests of the development of the mineral or other resources of Solomon Islands.
The Holder of a Mining Lease will, in addition to paying royalty, be liable to pay any export duties of customs in accordance with the Customs and Excise Act.
Please consult the Director for more information on the payment on export duties.
Contact the Director of Mines pdf Customs and Excise Act (910 KB)
