Legal information

The "Regulations on the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law" will come into effect on June 15, 2026.

This regulation is not a simple supporting document, but a key administrative regulation that will comprehensively reshape mining rights transfer, mining land, reserve management, ecological restoration, dispute resolution, and legal liability after the implementation of the new Mineral Resources Law.

From the perspective of mining companies, the regulations send a very clear signal:

The legitimate rights and interests of mining rights holders will be protected by a clearer system, but companies must also use more standardized evidence, more complete ledgers, and more advanced compliance management to protect themselves.

In the past, the core issues in many mining disputes were "the company has the mining rights, but cannot open them; it has invested, but cannot make up for them; it makes sense, but there is no evidence." The value of the new regulations lies in putting these issues into a clearer system of rules.

Below, lawyer Ying Ting provides a practical interpretation of the highlights of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law" from the perspective of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of mining companies.

1. The protection of strategic mineral resources has been strengthened, and relevant companies have both opportunities and higher compliance requirements.

The Regulation places a very prominent position on ensuring the security of national mineral resources and establishes a full-chain coordination mechanism for exploration, production, supply, storage and marketing around strategic mineral resources.

For mining companies, this first means policy opportunities.

Involving the exploration, mining, processing, trade, and reserves of strategic mineral resources, more policy support may be obtained in the future in terms of finance, finance, land, ecological environment, industry, import and export, etc. In particular, companies with resource endowments, technical capabilities, green mining capabilities and stable supply capabilities may gain greater space in the new round of resource security system construction.

But companies also need to see the other side.

Once strategic mineral resources are included in the catalog, the regulatory logic will no longer be just the market-oriented development of ordinary minerals, but will also include requirements such as national resource security, industrial chain supply chain security, protective mining, total volume regulation, planning control, and limited mining entities.

This means that companies can’t just ask “how much is this mine worth?” but also ask:

Whether it is a strategic mineral resource;

Whether it is included in the origin reserve;

Whether protective mining measures exist;

Whether it will affect subsequent transfers, capacity expansion, suppression, financing and project construction;

Once illegal behavior occurs, will it be severely punished?

Lawyer Ying Ting suggested that any project involving strategic mineral resources should establish a separate compliance review list. Especially before mergers and acquisitions, expansion, financing, and joint development, it is necessary to verify the mineral attributes, catalog status, reserve status, and special regulatory requirements to avoid handling strategic mineral projects with the same thinking as ordinary mining projects.

2. Reform of the mineral resources catalog adjustment mechanism, enterprises must continue to pay attention to changes in mineral classification

The regulations reformed the method of determining and adjusting the mineral resources catalog. The detailed classification of mineral resources is no longer fixed as an annex to the regulations. Instead, it is proposed by the natural resources department of the State Council in conjunction with the development and reform department of the State Council, and is published after approval by the State Council.

This change may seem technical, but it actually has a great impact on mining companies.

Mineral classification is related to many aspects such as the authority to transfer mining rights, whether it is a strategic mineral resource, resource tax, mining access, industrial policy, import and export management, foreign investment restrictions, and the intensity of legal liability.

In the past, some companies only looked at the name of the mineral species on the mining license when investing, without further judging mineral classification, main mineral species, associated mineral species and catalog adjustment trends. This approach will be even riskier under the new regulations.

For example, if a project involves multiple mineral types, how to identify the main mineral type may directly affect the transfer authority; after certain mineral types are included in the strategic mineral resources catalog, it may affect the company's subsequent mining rhythm, reserve obligations and transaction arrangements.

Lawyer Ying Ting suggested that mining companies should make mineral classification verification a basic action in project due diligence, license management and transaction review. Especially for polymetallic ores, co-associated ores, low-grade ores, and comprehensive utilization projects, we should not just look at the surface of the license, but also make comprehensive judgments based on reserve reports, mining plans, industrial policies, and the latest catalogue.

Three.Mining rights transfer systemOptimization, mining companies should focus on "fair transfer" and "contract relief"

The mining rights transfer system is one of the parts of this regulation that deserves the most attention from mining companies.

The regulations clarify the division of transfer authority between ministries and provinces, stipulating that strategic mineral resources, inter-provincial mineral resources, and maritime mineral resources shall be transferred by the natural resources department of the State Council or the provincial natural resources department authorized by it; the transfer authority of other mineral resources shall be stipulated by the provincial people's government.

The first meaning of this to the enterprise is that the transfer subject must have authority.

Not everyone’s grant of mining rights counts. When enterprises bid, receive transfers, jointly develop, and finance, they must review whether the transfer authority has legal authority. Especially for strategic minerals, cross-administrative region minerals, marine minerals, and mixed mineral projects, once there are flaws in the transfer authority, subsequent registration, transfer, renewal, and financing may be blocked.

The regulations also stipulate that priority will be given to the transfer of some exploration rights through bidding. This has changed the past market logic of simply “the one with the highest price gets it”. For strategic minerals with a high degree of shortage and large and medium-sized resource reserves, or blocks with special requirements for exploration and mining technology and ecological environment protection, the bidding mechanism places more emphasis on comprehensive capabilities.

This is an opportunity for companies that truly have technology, capital, ecological restoration capabilities, and long-term development capabilities.

However, companies should also pay attention to whether the bidding rules are fair, whether the bid evaluation criteria are clear, and whether the qualifications are exclusive. If the bidding conditions exclude specific entities with unreasonable thresholds, enterprises can raise objections around fair competition, announcement procedures, and the reasonableness of qualification conditions.

More importantly, the regulations give mining rights assignees a very critical right to relief:

After the mining rights transfer contract is signed, if the mining rights do not meet the requirements of territorial spatial planning and control and cannot be explored or mined due to errors in verification by the transfer department or other reasons, the transferee has the right to terminate the contract. After the contract is terminated, the transfer authority shall return the proceeds from the transfer of mining rights; if any property losses are caused to the transferee, compensation shall be made in accordance with the law.

This is an important clause to protect the investment security of mining companies.

In the past, the most painful thing for many companies was that after acquiring the mineral rights and paying the money, they later found out that they could not open due to planning, ecological red lines, space control and other reasons. When companies go to defend their rights, they often fall into a passive situation of "you have not done all the due diligence".

The new regulations clearly require planning verification before transfer, and also clarify the rules for contract termination, return of income and loss compensation after verification errors. When enterprises encounter similar problems in the future, they should not just focus on communication and coordination, but should form a complete chain of evidence around transfer announcements, transfer contracts, planning verification, payment vouchers, reasons for inability to mine, actual losses, etc.

Four.basic geological surveyStrengthen, enterprises should pay attention to the quality of results and the protection of business secrets

The regulations require increasing investment in basic geological surveys, establishing a system of technical standards and specifications, uniformly publishing basic geological survey results, and conducting confidentiality reviews before release.

This has two implications for mining companies.

First, the improvement of the quality of basic geological surveys will help reduce the uncertainty of mining investment. One of the biggest risks in mining projects is the uncertainty of underground resources. The more complete the basic investigation, the more solid the basis for enterprises to judge resource potential, transfer value, and development conditions.

Second, business secrets such as enterprise exploration results, major discoveries, and core technical solutions should be protected.

The regulations make it clear that no results data involving state secrets, work secrets, and commercial secrets shall be released before the results of basic geological surveys are released. The supervision and management chapter also further clarifies that trade secrets include but are not limited to mineral resource reserves, exploration results of mining rights holders, major discoveries, and core technical solutions.

This is very important for mining companies.

When mining companies submit reserve reports, technical plans, exploration results, and major prospecting information, they cannot just hand in the materials and be done with it. Trade secret identification, submission list, receipt, description of scope of use and confidentiality tips should be completed simultaneously.

If a company's important exploration results, reserve data or core technical solutions are improperly leaked, it will not only affect business negotiations, but also the value of mining rights, the competitive landscape and even financing arrangements.

5.mining land systemRefined, there is a clearer basis for cracking down on "the mine is legal and the land is illegal"

Mining companies have long faced a practical problem: the mining rights are legal, but the land use procedures have been delayed; the mining rights have been obtained, but the project cannot be started.

The regulations detail the mining land use system, which is one of the most practical contents for mining companies in this system innovation.

The regulations clarify that mining land includes land used for mineral resource exploration and development. The land used for exploration operations, such as residential buildings, work sheds, transportation access roads, etc., can be included in the scope of land for exploration; mining operations, ore and waste rock stacking, industrial plants, tunnel projects, tailings ponds, mineral processing plants, living service facilities, transportation facilities, etc., also belong to the scope of land for mineral resource exploitation.

This solves a basic problem: mining land is not a vague concept, but has clear boundaries.

The regulations also clarify that people's governments at or above the county level shall ensure reasonable needs for mineral resource exploration and development of land in accordance with the law. Mining rights holders can use state-owned land through allocation, transfer, lease, valuation and capital contribution, etc., and can also obtain the right to use collective commercial construction land through transfer, lease, etc. in accordance with the law.

More importantly, the regulations make it clear that state-owned land and collective commercial construction land used for mining mineral resources can be transferred through agreements.

This provision is very important.

Mining land has the particularity of “the land moves with the mines”. Wherever the mine is located, production facilities, transportation roads, tailings ponds, dressing plants and other supporting lands are often laid out around the mining area. If the general industrial land bidding, auction and listing logic is applied mechanically, it will easily lead to the separation of mineral rights and land.

The new regulations provide a clearer institutional basis for the acquisition of mining land by agreement, helping to solve the old problem of "legal mines but illegal land".

However, companies cannot ignore their ecological restoration and reclamation responsibilities. The Regulations also stipulate that temporary land use shall be approved in zoning and phases, with each phase in principle not exceeding five years; if the mining rights holder fails to perform land reclamation and other ecological restoration obligations in the mining area, no new temporary land use shall be approved.

This means that temporary land use and ecological restoration have been institutionally bound. If an enterprise fails to complete the reclamation and restoration in the previous phase, subsequent land use approval may be directly blocked.

Lawyer Ying Ting suggested that mining companies should manage mining rights, land use, forestry and grassland, environmental protection, safety, and ecological restoration as an overall approval chain. They should not wait for the mining license to be obtained before reusing the land, nor wait for the temporary land to be reused before it expires.

6. The mining rights dispute resolution mechanism has been restored and clear, and companies must make good use of administrative rulings and reconsideration litigation.

The Regulations clarify that when disputes between mining rights holders regarding exploration areas and mining areas arise, they shall be resolved through negotiation between the parties concerned; if negotiation fails, they shall be handled by the local people's government at or above the county level where the mineral resources are located based on the exploration areas and mining areas approved in accordance with the law; disputes across administrative regions shall be handled by the common higher-level people's government.

This system is very important to mining companies.

Mining rights disputes are often not simple civil disputes, but involve complex factors such as coordinates, scope, approval, registration, planning, historical evolution, and administrative management. If there is no clear processing path, companies can easily go back and forth between civil litigation, administrative coordination, and responses from the competent authorities.

The new regulations clarify the dispute resolution path and also clarify that local government decisions have the nature of administrative adjudication. If the parties are dissatisfied, they may apply for administrative reconsideration or initiate administrative litigation in accordance with the law.

This provides mining companies with a clearer route to safeguard their rights:

Negotiate first. If negotiation fails, apply to the government for handling in accordance with the law. If you are not satisfied with the handling decision, go to administrative review or administrative litigation.

Lawyer Ying Ting reminded that the key to the dispute over the boundaries of mining rights is not who has the loudest voice, but whose evidence is complete. Enterprises should prepare in advance the mining rights certificate, coordinate range, registration information, transfer contract, historical approval documents, boundary survey results, on-site measurement data, adjacent mineral rights information, reserves report and mining plan.

In particular, issues such as overlapping mining rights, intersected areas, deep upper resources, and continuity of adjacent ore bodies cannot be explained solely verbally, but must be explained through drawings, coordinates, approval documents, and professional opinions.

7. The reserve management system is established, and the protection of the value of mining rights has entered the "data speak" stage.

Mineral resource reserves determine the value of mining rights and are the core basis for mining rights transactions, financing, investment, compensation, renewal, suppression and dispute resolution.

The regulations make systematic provisions on reserves management: the state establishes a reserves management system and strengthens reserves investigation, verification, statistics, and evaluation; if the mining rights holder identifies mineral resources that can be exploited or discovers significant changes in reserves during mining, a reserves report should be prepared and submitted; the reserves report should include spatial distribution, type, quantity, quality, demonstration of mineral deposit industry indicators, etc.; the mining rights holder should carry out reserves monitoring and establishReserve ledger, regularly report reserve changes and development and utilization status.

This means for mining companies that reserves are no longer just technical data, but rights protection data.

In mining M&A, the authenticity of reserves directly determines the transaction price. In financing, reserves impactMineral Rights Valuation. In the overburden of construction projects, reserves determine the basis for compensation calculation. In public interest recovery, reserves are related to loss determination. In administrative supervision, unclear reserves ledgers may trigger penalties.

Lawyer Ying Ting has repeatedly emphasized in the due diligence investigation of mining projects: Mining rights are core assets, and the authenticity of reserves is the basis of core value. Enterprises cannot just look at a reserves report, but must also verify general surveys, detailed surveys, exploration reports, reserve review opinions, filing materials, drilling, trenching, pit exploration, and laboratory test results. If necessary, they must also conduct engineering verification and production verification.

For mining rights holders, the safest approach in the future is to unify reserves reports, reserves ledgers, mining plans, on-site production data, sales data, resource tax declarations, ecological restoration scope and other information to form a data chain that can corroborate each other.

Only with clear reserve data can the value of mining rights have a basis; if reserve management is chaotic, companies will be passive in transactions, financing, compensation, and renewals.

8. Import, export and international cooperation mechanisms have been improved, and mining companies must put compliance first when going overseas.

The regulations stipulate international investment, trade, technical cooperation, overseas development, foreign investment security review, import and export control and countermeasures in mineral resources.

For mining companies, this shows that mining development is no longer just a domestic compliance issue, but is highly related to international trade, supply chain security, export control, foreign investment access, safety review, etc.

When developing and utilizing overseas mineral resources, enterprises must not only abide by my country's laws and regulations, but also abide by the laws of the country or region where they are located, abide by contracts, respect local customs and cultural traditions, pay attention to ecological environment protection and safe production, strengthen safety risk prevention, and handle procedures in accordance with regulations.

This is a reminder for mining companies going global:

Overseas mining projects should not only look at resources and mineral prices, but also political risks, community relations, environmental protection requirements, labor rules, tax systems, foreign exchange policies, contract stability and dispute resolution mechanisms.

At the same time, foreign investment in exploration and mining of mineral resources should comply with the negative list for foreign investment access; those that affect or may affect national security must also undergo security review. Enterprises involving key minerals, key technologies, key equipment, and export controlled items should also conduct simultaneous trade compliance and export control reviews.

In cross-border transaction contracts, mining companies should set up clauses such as sanctions, export control, safety review, government approval, force majeure, change of situation, compliance withdrawal, dispute resolution, etc. They cannot just use ordinary sales contract thinking to handle mining resource transactions.

9. As legal responsibilities increase, mining companies must shift from "experience management" to "account management"

The regulations further improve the legal liability system, impose heavier penalties on illegal activities involving strategic mineral resources, and add multiple types of penalty provisions.

Among them, mining companies should pay special attention to the following types of risks:

First, if you fail to regularly report the changes in mineral resource reserves and development and utilization, or fail to submit a geological report after the pit is closed, you may be punished.

Second, if you fail to pay the mineral rights occupation fee as required and fail to pay it within the time limit, you may be fined up to three times the amount payable.

Third, illegal activities such as unlicensed exploration, unlicensed mining, cross-border mining, and destruction of mineral resources involving strategic mineral resources will be severely punished.

Fourth, construction project construction units will also face heavier penalties if they excavate sand, gravel and clay for construction needs and then dispose of it themselves.

Fifth, if you cause damage to others' personal property or ecological environment, you may also bear civil liability; if it constitutes a public security violation or crime, you will also enter the public security penalty and criminal liability system.

This shows that mining supervision will become more systematic, more sophisticated, and more evidence-based.

In the past, some mines relied on experience management: licenses were about to expire, materials were replenished when inspections came, reserves ledgers were not updated at ordinary times, pits were closed for ecological restoration and other processes, and procedures for changes in on-site mining methods were completed first and then replenished.

This approach will become increasingly risky under the new regulations.

Lawyer Ying Ting suggested that mining companies should establish at least six types of ledgers:

Mining rights term and renewal ledger;

Accounts for transfer income, occupancy fees, resource taxes and other expenses;

Reserve changes and development and utilization ledger;

Exploration plan, mining plan, license and site consistency ledger;

Accounts for land use, forestry, environmental protection, and safety procedures;

Ecological restoration, reclamation, acceptance and pit closure data ledger.

In the future, when mining companies protect themselves, they will not just say "I have mineral rights", but must prove that "my mineral rights, planning, land use, plans, reserves, sites, costs, repairs, and reports are all correct."

10. The establishment of the new and the discarding of the old are completed simultaneously. Mining companies can no longer operate inertly according to the old rules.

The regulations will come into effect on June 15, 2026, and at the same time abolish the "Interim Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Mineral Resources", "Regulations on the Collection and Management of Mineral Resources Compensation Fees", "Detailed Implementation Rules of the Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China", "Measures for the Registration and Management of Mineral Resources Exploration Blocks", "Measures for the Registration and Management of Mineral Resources Exploitation" and "Measures for the Management of Transfer of Exploration and Mining Rights".

This means that the mineral resources management rule system has completed a major switch.

For mining companies, the most dangerous thing is not not knowing the new regulations, but continuing to deal with new problems according to old methods, old experiences, and old processes.

For example, mineral rights renewal, transfer, mortgage, change, transfer income payment, mining plan adjustment, ecological restoration plan, temporary land use, reserve reporting, pit closure report, actual controller change report and other matters need to be re-checked with the new regulations and subsequent supporting regulations.

In particular, it should be noted that exploration licenses and mining licenses issued in accordance with the law before July 1, 2025 will continue to be valid during the validity period. This is a stable expected protection for existing mining rights holders.

But "continuing to be valid" does not mean that all subsequent matters will still follow the old rules. The old certificate is valid within the validity period. Subsequent renewal, change, transfer, plan adjustment, ecological restoration, reserve reporting, and land use procedures must still be in accordance with the new rules.

Conclusion: Under the new regulations, the core of rights protection for mining companies is “rights + procedures + evidence”

From the perspective of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of mining enterprises, the real value of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law" is not just the number of additional management regulations, but also the provision of clearer rights for enterprises.

If the transfer department makes a verification error that results in the inability to explore and mine the mineral rights, the company may claim to terminate the contract, return the transfer proceeds, and compensate for losses in accordance with the law.

If a construction project overturns the existing mining rights and directly affects normal exploration and mining, the construction unit shall negotiate with the mining rights holder before overturning and provide fair and reasonable compensation in accordance with the law.

If mining rights need to be recovered due to public interests, fair and reasonable compensation should be provided in accordance with the law.

There is a clear window for applying for renewal of mining rights, and administrative agencies should also make a decision on whether to grant renewal before the expiration of the mining right.

Mining rights holders’ trade secrets such as reserves, exploration results, major discoveries, and core technical solutions should be protected.

In principle, ecological restoration costs may not be seized, frozen or allocated.

Disputes over mining rights areas have clearer administrative adjudication and relief paths.

These systems can all become the legal basis for mining companies to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

But having a basis does not mean automatically winning the case; having rights does not mean automatically realizing it.

What mining companies really need to do is to convert every right into evidence, leave traces of every approval node, and write every major risk into contracts, ledgers, and compliance processes in advance.

After the implementation of the new regulations, the competition among mining companies will not only compete for resources and funds, but also compete for compliance capabilities and rights protection capabilities.

Lawyer Ying Ting suggested that mining companies start from now on to conduct a systematic physical examination of existing mining rights:

Check whether the mineral rights are about to be renewed;

Check whether the concession income and occupation fees have been paid in full;

Check whether the mining area involves planning restrictions, ecological red lines, overburden risks and adjacent rights disputes;

Check whether the reserve report, mining plan, license, and on-site operations are consistent;

Check whether land use, forestry, environmental protection, and safety procedures are connected;

Check whether the ecological restoration costs, restoration plans, and acceptance documents are complete;

Check whether the transaction contract, financing contract, and cooperation agreement have been updated according to the new regulations.

Mining rights are the core assets of mining companies. Protecting mining rights does not mean waiting for disputes to occur before remediating them, but rather establishing legal basis and evidence chain in advance from every aspect of acquisition, construction, production, trading, financing, renewal, restoration, and pit closure.

This is also the most important reminder given to mining companies by the new "Regulations on the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law".