The government through the State Department for Mining has clarified the process of obtaining a mining license.
In a statement made on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the ministry emphasized that the Online Mining Cadastre is central to the country’s mineral operations and licensing framework.
This secure online platform requires that all mining license applications be submitted digitally, as mandated by the Mining Act of 2016, which prohibits any manual applications.
“The backbone of Kenya’s mineral operations and licensing regime is the Online Mining Cadastre, this formidably secure online system governs the entire architecture of mineral rights applications,” reads the statement in part.
Govt Clarifies on Application Process
To apply, individuals must upload essential documents, such as landowner consent, tax compliance certificates, and NEMA approvals, for review by the Mineral Rights Board (MRB).
Additionally, the ministry notes that this shift to an online system has greatly enhanced the efficiency of the application process while fostering greater transparency and accountability in licensing.
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“The cadastre has tremendously increased efficiency in mineral rights applications process & entrenched transparency & accountability in licensing.”
Furthermore, the cadastre system, which is publicly accessible, contains detailed information about all applications.
This includes the size of the mapped area, types of licenses issued, the names of license holders, issue and expiry dates, and the current status and validity of each license.
How the Mining License System Has Reduced Conflicts
It was further highlighted that this transparency has reduced conflicts over mining zones, as the system marks an area as taken once an applicant enters the coordinates.
“This system has also eliminated rampant conflict incidences over multiple allocation of the same mining zone to different investors.”
“Once an applicant has identified & keyed in coordinates for their area of interest, the system marks that zone as taken,” read the statement.
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This reserves it for the first applicant up until the MRB removes them for non-compliance with licensing conditions.
“Once expunged, the system records the area as free and can be allocated to any other applicant.”
Furthermore, the State Department for mining expressed its commitment to improving transparency through the digitization of all critical systems.
“To this end, other systems we are finalizing include the royalty sharing management system, laboratory information management system explosives management system and library information management system.”
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