Construction sand and stone are the minerals closest to everyday life — and the most tightly tightened in recent years, because riverbed sand mining connects directly to bank erosion, lost farmland and conflict with riverside communities. Licensing sand and stone is therefore no longer a pure minerals procedure: it is governed simultaneously by riverbed-protection planning, safety corridors and environmental discipline at the extraction point.
What a river-sand or stone licence requires
Sand and stone operators need an exploitation licence under the Law on Geology and Minerals 54/2024/QH15 and Decree 193/2025/ND-CP, built on an investment project, an EIA and environmental protection measures for extraction. For riverbed sand, the file must also be checked against planning and the prohibited or restricted extraction zones published by competent authorities — river reaches that are eroding or at high erosion risk are usually outside newly licensable areas. Licensing power sits mostly with provinces under decentralisation, but that does not soften approval standards at erosion hotspots.
Illegal sand: fines and equipment confiscation
Mining sand without a licence, or beyond licensed boundaries, depth or volume, is fined under Decree 36/2020/ND-CP, with accompanying confiscation of illegally extracted sand, confiscation of equipment in statutory cases and mandatory restoration of the riverbed. Because sand can be sold immediately, authorities police transport and trade at the same time: origin invoices and documents must be shown during haulage, and buyers of illegal sand for projects can also be sanctioned. That is why construction owners increasingly demand to see a sand mine’s licence before signing supply contracts.
Stone quarrying causing landslides or cracked houses
Blasting quarries must observe safety distances, approved blasting procedures and notice to nearby residents. Where extraction causes landslides, cracked houses or threats to public safety, the quarry owner compensates damage under the Civil Code 2015 and may be suspended for remediation, on top of administrative liability for breaching mine design and safety conditions. Unlike ordinary compensation disputes, regulators usually arrive before courts in these cases — so blasting logs and condition surveys of surrounding houses are the company’s first line of defence.
Keeping a sand or stone mine legally durable
Three practices keep sand and stone mines out of the repeat-penalty cycle: mining exactly within boundaries and depth using positioning and shift output logs; maintaining an erosion-monitoring belt downstream of sand extraction points; and publishing licences and output to the commune authority. Transparency with the locality is not decorative: most surprise inspections begin with a resident complaint, and a mine with good information relations at commune level tends to receive an early warning instead of a surprise record.
Frequently Asked Questions
What licence does river sand mining need?
You need a mineral exploitation licence under the Law on Geology and Minerals 54/2024/QH15, an approved investment project and EIA, and an extraction area outside the prohibited or restricted river-sand zones published by competent authorities. Licensing is mostly provincial under the decentralisation mechanism of Decree 193/2025/ND-CP.
What is the penalty for illegal sand mining — is equipment confiscated?
Fines under Decree 36/2020/ND-CP scale with the violation, alongside confiscation of all illegally extracted sand and, in statutory cases, of vessels, machinery and vehicles used in the extraction, plus mandatory site restoration. Transporting and trading sand of unclear origin are sanctioned separately.
Who is liable when stone quarrying causes a landslide?
The quarry owner compensates affected people under the Civil Code 2015 and may face suspension and administrative penalties for breaching mine design, blasting procedure or safety conditions. Blasting logs and condition surveys of surrounding buildings are the key evidence for allocating liability.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council