Procedure for Obtaining Different Mineral Rights/ Licences and Rules Governing Such Licences

The mandate of management of applications for mineral rights, other licences and permits including licensing, communication, reporting and assessment of payments is vested in the Mining Cadastre Department of the Directorate of Geological Surveys and Mines. The Mining Cadastre Department is mandated to issue any of the licences as recognised under The Mining and Minerals Act 2022. The applications are to be made in the manner as shall be prescribed by Regulations.

The Act recognises the following types of mineral rights,

(a) Prospecting licence;

(b) Exploration licence;

(d) Large scale mining licence;

(e) Medium scale mining licence;

(f) Small scale mining licence; and

(g) Artisanal mining licence

Prospecting Licence

An application for a prospecting licence should contain in respect of an individual, the name and nationality of each individual making the application; the registered name and place of incorporation of the company (and a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation of the company; a certified copy of the memorandum and articles of association; the names and nationalities of the company directors; and the name of every shareholder who is a beneficial owner of five percent or more of the issued share capital); contain the company profile and history of prospecting in Uganda and elsewhere; be accompanied by a statement giving particulars of the technical and financial resources available to the applicant; give details of any mineral right held within Uganda by the applicant or by any person controlling, controlled by or under joint or common control with the applicant; and be accompanied by proof of payment of the prescribed fees.

Once granted, a prospecting licence is be valid for a period of one year and is not renewable. The licence gives the holder his or her employees, servants or agents a non-exclusive right to carry on prospecting operations for any mineral and for that purpose may enter upon any area not otherwise subject to an exploration or mining licence, erect camps and tempolary buildings, take and remove specimens and samples from the prospecting area. The holder is under an obligation to among others conduct his operations in an environmentally friendly manner, submit quarterly geological and financial reports, report any mineral discovery to the minister, remove any tempolary structures at the expiration of the licence, repair and make good any damage caused to the surface of the land and compensate users of the land for any damage to the land and property.

A prospecting licence does not authorise the holder of the licence to prospect over an area of land that is, or forms part of an exploration area, a mining area, a retention area, an artisanal or small scale mining licence area. The holder must not engage in drilling or excavation or prospect a reserve, game reserve, national park, forest, wetland or an urban centre, special conservation areas, conservation area or protected area unless the holder of the prospecting licence has first given notice to and obtained permission from the relevant authorities and complies with any conditions imposed by the authorities.

Any minerals obtained during prospecting activities are property of Government and shall not be disposed off by the licencee except with the consent of the minister, except for reasonable quantities as may be prescribed for purposes of sampling, assay, analysis or other examination.

Note the Difference between prospecting and exploration

Prospecting is simply a search for mineral deposit and it means looking for ores minerals of value or importance. Prospecting is a sum total of systemic process under taken in a sequential manner to discover new ore deposit. Once a discovery has been made, the property containing a deposit, called the prospect is explored to determine some of the more important characteristics of the deposit. Among these are its size, shape, orientation in space, and location with respect to the surface, as well as the mineral quality and quality distribution and the quantities of these different qualities. Exploration therefore incorporates set of operations like take drilling, trenching keeping sampling assaying, core, ranger, estimate of determining the availability of the ore deposit.