A mining licence does not bring land with it: the operator must lease land (or receive land allocation in statutory cases) from the State for the exact area, term and mining purpose. Mismatch among the three layers — the minerals licence, the land-lease decision and actual use — is the commonest source of mine land disputes. This article sets out mine-land leasing procedure, term, and land handling when the mining licence expires.
The land regime for mineral exploitation
- Form of land use — under Land Law 31/2024/QH15, mineral operators use land mainly through State land lease (annual or one-off rental), based on the investment project and the issued mining licence; land for offices, stockyards and internal mine roads must also sit inside the lease decision and land-use planning.
- Leasing sequence: after investment-policy approval and the mining licence, the enterprise files the land-lease dossier (area, surveyed boundaries, site-clearance compensation plan if land is in use) for the competent people’s committee’s lease decision and lease contract, followed by land registration updates.
- Lease term follows the project: the land-lease term is set by the mining investment project’s operating term within the Land Law’s term framework; when the mining licence extends, the lease must extend correspondingly — desynchronised terms are a real operating risk (licence alive, lease expired).
- At mining expiry — land handling: when the mining licence expires or the mine closes, the operator rehabilitates the land to the approved plan and returns it to the State through land procedures; land whose rehabilitation is not accepted has not completed the return duty, and rent may keep accruing until actual hand-back.
Keeping the mine land file in sync with the licence
- Reconcile three area layers from the start and at every change: the area in the mining licence, the area in the lease decision and the area actually used (including waste dumps and haul roads) must match or be lawfully adjusted.
- Run a dual calendar for two terms: mining licence expiry and land-lease expiry in one compliance tracker, starting synchronised extension 12–18 months ahead to avoid an operating legal gap.
- Prepare the land-return file while the mine still operates: cell-by-cell rehabilitation records, per-part acceptances and rent reconciliations — the end-of-term return procedure moves exactly as fast as this file’s quality.
Mine land is the legal layer beneath every extraction activity: the licence grants the right to the minerals underground, the land lease grants the right to stand on the surface above them. Operators who keep the two layers matched — in area, term and purpose — never have a mine stopped by a purely administrative land error.
Frequently asked questions
For mining, is land leased or allocated?
Mainly State land lease: mineral operators lease land from the State (paying annual rent or one-off rent for the whole term) based on the investment project and mining licence under Land Law 31/2024; allocation applies only to specific statutory cases.
What is the maximum mine-land lease term?
The lease term is set by the investment project’s operating term as recorded in the project file and mining licence, within the Land Law’s general term framework for investment projects; when the project and licence extend, the land-lease term is considered for corresponding extension.
When the mining licence expires, what happens to the mine land?
The operator must rehabilitate the land to the approved environmental rehabilitation plan, pass acceptance, then return the land to the State and terminate the lease; rent and rehabilitation duties end only when actual land hand-back completes.
If leased area is smaller than the licensed area, can we mine?
Not safely: area without lawful land-use rights may not be brought into actual extraction; the operator must complete land leasing for the entire mining area (including waste dumps and auxiliary infrastructure) before operating that part.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council