Reserves are the number the whole mining project stands on: grant fees are computed on reserves, tax on output, M&A value on remaining reserves. The law therefore places reserves under their own control regime — exploration results must be council-approved, extraction must report reserve movements periodically, and misdeclaring reserves is not a reporting error but a cascading financial one. This article sets out Vietnam’s reserve approval, audit and reporting regime.
The mineral reserve control regime
- Reserve approval is a mandatory gate — exploration results must obtain reserve approval from the competent authority (through the Mineral Reserves Assessment Council under Law on Geology and Minerals 54/2024/QH15) before a mining project is established; unapproved reserves have no legal value for grant-fee computation or licensing.
- In-mining reserve audit and re-assessment: actual reserves can deviate from explored reserves once workings open; the operator must update remaining reserves through periodic reports and, on major changes (mining beyond boundaries, abnormal reserve increases/decreases), report for re-confirmation — additional reserves trigger supplementary grant-fee duties.
- Periodic mineral activity reporting: operators must report periodically on extracted output, reserves extracted and remaining, and rehabilitation progress to the minerals authority — a dataset cross-checked against resource-tax and environmental-fee declarations.
- Misdeclared reserves or output: administrative penalties in the minerals and resources sector, recovery of grant fees and resource tax for the under-declared part; mining beyond approved reserves in the licence may be treated as mining outside the licensed scope.
Governing reserve data inside a mining company
- One geological–mining data system: the reserve model, the annual mining plan and periodic reserve reports must draw on a single database, with yearly internal audit reconciling actual weighed output.
- Handle reserve deviations on discovery: where workings show actual reserves materially different from approved ones, report proactively and seek re-confirmation instead of letting inspectors find it — an early-explained deviation is a technical matter, a late-discovered one is a compliance matter.
- In M&A and lending: allow buyer/lender independent reserve audits to international reporting standards (JORC/NI 43-101) alongside domestic approved figures — the two datasets must be reconcilable to each other, never ‘one number per audience’.
Reserves are the State-certified asset of a mining project: they decide grant fees, tax and enterprise value. The operator who governs reserves as a continuous audit system never has to explain why three State agencies hold three different numbers for the same mine.
Frequently asked questions
Who approves mineral reserves?
The competent State minerals authority, through the Mineral Reserves Assessment Council appraising the exploration results report under Law on Geology and Minerals 54/2024/QH15; approved reserves ground mining licensing and grant-fee computation.
Who receives periodic mining reports?
The operator files periodic mineral activity reports (output, reserves extracted and remaining, rehabilitation) with the licensing minerals authority and local specialised agencies under the reporting regime of Law 54/2024 and its guidance.
What happens if reserves are misdeclared?
Administrative penalties in the minerals sector, recovery of grant fees and resource tax for the difference; mining beyond approved reserves/scope may be treated as off-licence mining, with suspension or revocation by severity.
Can domestic reserve figures serve international investors?
Domestically approved figures are the legal basis in Vietnam; international investors and lenders usually also require a JORC or NI 43-101 reserve report by an independent expert — operators should keep the two datasets reconcilable.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
