Do managers of a pit mine need a university degree in mining engineering in Vietnam?

Do managers of a pit mine need a university degree in mining engineering in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 62 of the 2010 Law on Minerals stipulates mine managers as follows:

2. A mine manager must satisfy the following criteria:

a/ Being knowledgeable about the mineral law and other relevant regulations;

b/ Being knowledgeable about specialized technical regulations, labor safety and sanitation rules and environmental protection regulations in mining activities;

c/ Having organizational and managerial qualifications, practical experience, and mining, labor safety and environmental protection techniques;

d/ A manager of a pit mine must be a mining engineer or mine building engineer who has personally worked in pit mines for at least 5 years;

e/ A manager of an open-cast mine must be a mining engineer who has personally worked in open-cast mines for at least 3 years; or a geological exploration engineer who has been trained in mining techniques and have personally worked for at least 5 years in open-cast mines.

A manager of a non-metallic open-cast mine in which industrial explosives are not used and minerals are manually exploited for use as common construction materials must possess a secondary degree in mining and have personally worked in open-cast mines for at least 2 years; those who have a secondary degree in geological exploration must have been trained in mining techniques and have personally worked in open-cast mines for at least 3 years.

According to Clause 3, Article 8 of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP, mine managers is as follows:

3. Degrees of a mine manager prescribed in Point d, dd Clause 2 of Article 62 of the Law on Mineral include:

a) A bachelor's degree or equivalent in mine engineering and mine construction in terms of underground mining;

b) A bachelor's degree or equivalent in mine engineering, mine construction, and geotechnical engineering in terms of surface mining;

c) An associate's degree or equivalent in mine engineering, geotechnical engineering in terms of surface mining of nonmetallic minerals without using industrial explosives, or mineral as general building materials by manual methods.

Thus, to be the mine manager that conducts mining minerals by employing underground mining methods in Vietnam, one needs a university degree or equivalent in the field of mining engineering, mine construction, for mining minerals by employing underground mining methods, only having a college degree in mining engineering is not eligible to be the manager of a pit mine.

What are penalties for the organization that fails to notify in writing the qualification of mine manager to the competent authority in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Point a, Clause 1, Article 39 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP, violations against regulations on mine executive director are as follows:

1. Fines shall be imposed for any of the violations against regulations on mine executive director, except for artisanal mining or mining of mineral water. To be specific:

a) A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to send written notification of professional qualification of the mine executive director to the licensing authority;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on an individual who possesses two valid executive manager contracts or more at the same time or for appointing a person as a mine executive director to manage mineral mining (at the same time) for two mining licenses or more.

According to Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP as amended by Clause 3, Article 2 of Decree 04/2022/ND-CP, the fine levels are as follows:

1. The fines prescribed in Chapter II and Chapter III hereof are imposed for administrative violations committed by individuals. Fines imposed on household businesses; branches or representative offices committing administrative violations outside the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise are the same as those imposed on individuals. The fine incurred by an organization (including a branch or representative office committing administrative violations within the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise) is twice as much as the fine incurred by an individual for the same violation.

According to this Article, the organization that fails to send written notification of professional qualification of the mine executive director to the licensing authority will be fined from VND 2,000,000 to VND 10,000,000.

What is the level of sanction for organizations that conduct mining minerals by employing underground mining methods but do not have a mine manager in Vietnam?

In Clause 3, Clause 4, Article 39 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP, violations against regulations on mine executive director are as follows:

3. Fines shall be imposed for mining minerals without a mine executive director. To be specific:

a) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on a household business for mining minerals used as common building materials;

b) A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for mining peat or minerals which are used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for the case specified in Point a of this Clause;

c) A fine ranging from VND 50,000,000 to VND 70,000,000 shall be imposed for mining peat or minerals which are used as common building materials by using industrial explosives, except for the case specified in Point a of this Clause;

d) A fine ranging from VND 70,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed for mining minerals by employing open-pit mining methods, except for the cases prescribed in Points a, b, c and e of this Clause;

dd) A fine ranging from VND 120,000,000 to VND 150,000,000 shall be imposed for mining minerals by employing underground mining methods, except for the cases prescribed in Points a, b, c and e of this Clause;

e) A fine ranging from VND 160,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 shall be imposed for mining gold, silver, precious stones, platinum or toxic minerals.

4. Additional penalties:

a) Suspend the mining for 01 - 03 months if any of the violations prescribed in Points a and b Clause 3 of this Article is re-committed.

b) Suspend the mining for 03 - 06 months if any of the violations prescribed in Points c, d and dd and Point e Clause 3 of this Article is re-committed.

According to Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP as amended by Clause 3, Article 2 of Decree 04/2022/ND-CP, the fine levels are as follows:

1. The fines prescribed in Chapter II and Chapter III hereof are imposed for administrative violations committed by individuals. Fines imposed on household businesses; branches or representative offices committing administrative violations outside the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise are the same as those imposed on individuals. The fine incurred by an organization (including a branch or representative office committing administrative violations within the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise) is twice as much as the fine incurred by an individual for the same violation.

According to the above regulations in Vietnam, depending on what is the mining activity by employing underground mining methods, the organization that has the act of mining minerals by employing underground mining methods but without the mine manager will be fined twice according to points a, b, c, dd and e, Clause 3, Article 39 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP. At the same time, applying an additional sanction is the suspension of mining activities as prescribed above.

Best Regards!