Principles for exploration, extraction, and recovery of riverbed, lakebed, and marine sand and gravel activities in Vietnam

Principles for exploration, extraction, and recovery of riverbed, lakebed, and marine sand and gravel activities in Vietnam

The principles for exploration, exploitation, and recovery of riverbed, lakebed, and marine sand and gravel in Vietnam are stipulated as follows:

- The exploration and exploitation activities of riverbed, lakebed, and marine sand and gravel must comply with the regulations for minerals of Group II or Group III as specified in the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 and ensure the following requirements:

+ Exploitation activities must be controlled and monitored using modern technological means and equipment to ensure control over mineral reserve fluctuations; the risk of safety loss and severe environmental impacts; the risk of riverbed, riverbank, river beach, and coastal erosion and instability;

+ Exploitation activities must undergo impact assessment as per the provisions of the law concerning water resources, marine and island environment resources, environmental protection, and other relevant legal regulations.

- Dredging activities combined with the recovery of mineral products in the waters of seaports, fishing ports, storm shelter areas, inland waterways, riverbeds, hydropower reservoir beds, and irrigation reservoir beds must comply with the provisions of this Law and ensure the following requirements:

+ Compliance with laws regarding inland waterway traffic, irrigation, maritime, water resources, environmental protection, dikes, disaster prevention and control, and other relevant legal regulations;

+ No exploitation and recovery of sand and gravel illegally under the guise of dredging activities;

+ Registration for mineral recovery with the competent state management authority in accordance with the law.

- In cases where the mineral reserves specified in the mineral exploitation license have been fully exploited, exploitation must cease, and procedures for mine closure must be carried out.

Refer to detailed content in the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 effective from July 1, 2025.

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