The departments in charge of natural resources in all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government:

Rare earth ore, tungsten ore is the State Council provisions of the implementation of protective mining of specific minerals. In order to protect and rationally develop and utilize superior mineral resources, thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and further standardize and strengthen the examination and approval management of rare earth and tungsten exploration and mining, in accordance with the laws and regulations on mineral resources and the relevant provisions of the State Council, the relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

1. continue to suspend the acceptance of new rare earth mining exploration and mining registration applications. Except in the following cases:

The (I) shall apply to the Ministry of Natural Resources for the pre-survey, census or necessary detailed survey of rare earth mines carried out with the full use of central or provincial financial funds, and the prospecting right shall be canceled after the project is completed. Where rare earth mineral resources are discovered in exploration, the cancellation procedures shall be handled after the registration of mineral resources reserves is ascertained, and the list of results formed by the state-funded exploration shall be included for management.

(II) rare earth exploration projects in which the applicant has the main qualification of a large rare earth enterprise group determined by the state.

(III) a rare earth mining project that meets the national industrial policy and the requirements for total mining control, and the applicant has the main qualification of a large rare earth enterprise group determined by the state.

2. applying for new tungsten mining rights should comply with national industrial policies and total mining control requirements.

The 3. has newly established rare earth and tungsten prospecting rights and mining rights, and under the same conditions, it will provide support to the poverty-stricken areas determined by the state in accordance with the law.

The 4. of new rare earth ore, tungsten ore mining rights, environmental impact assessment must be carried out in accordance with the law, in line with the requirements of ecological environment protection. For mining rights that seriously damage the environment and fail to fulfill the obligation of ecological restoration of mines, the total amount of mining control indicators shall not be allocated.

5. applying for registration of new establishment, continuation and change of mining rights for rare earth mines and tungsten mines, the competent department of natural resources at the next level shall issue opinions on the allocation of total mining control indicators, and the continuation project shall also explain the implementation of existing indicators.

Where a 6. applies for registration of changes in the transfer of rare earth ore prospecting rights and mining rights, and the change (or addition) of exploration and mining minerals to rare earth ore, the transferee (applicant) shall have the main qualification of a large rare earth enterprise group determined by the state.

If the exploration right of 7. rare earth ore and tungsten ore cannot be transferred to mining right due to the restriction of policy or total mining control index, after completing the exploration work above the census and registering the identified mineral resources reserves, it may apply to the original license issuing authority for the reservation of exploration right according to law.

If the 8. exploration license or mining license is the exploration right and mining right of other minerals, and the reserves of rare earth ore and tungsten ore resources are found and reviewed and filed, and meet the conditions for registration of changes or additional minerals, they may apply for changes in mining rights in accordance with the law. If the exploration minerals are changed to (or added to) rare earth or tungsten ore, an application shall be made to the original license issuing authority; if the mining minerals are changed to (or added to) rare earth or tungsten ore, an application shall be made to the Ministry of Natural Resources, and shall comply with the national industrial policy and the requirements for total mining control.

The Ministry of 9. and Natural Resources determines the total mining control indicators based on the national mineral resources plan, combined with factors such as national industrial policies, ecological environmental protection, reserved resource reserves, mining rights settings, and mining capacity and output, to determine the national annual rare earth and tungsten mines. The total amount of mining control indicators will be allocated to the provincial natural resources authority.

10. the annual mining indicators of rare earth and tungsten mines allocated by the Ministry of Natural Resources to all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), in principle, the total mining control indicators of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) issued in the previous year are based on the implementation and management of indicators of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), the setting of mining rights, the order of exploration and mining, the level of comprehensive utilization, and the reserves of resources shall be adjusted and distributed appropriately to the poor areas determined by the state.

11. The provincial-level natural resources authorities are responsible for the decomposition and implementation of the total control indicators for rare earth and tungsten mining in their administrative regions and the supervision and management of their implementation. After decomposing and issuing the total amount control indicators for rare earth and tungsten mining, the provincial-level natural resources authorities organize the city and county-level natural resources authorities where the mine is located to sign a letter of responsibility with the mining enterprise to clarify the rights, obligations and responsibilities for breach of contract.

XII. Where the exploitation of common associated resources is involved, the exploitation of rare earth ore and tungsten ore shall be included in the management of total amount control indicators, and reserves shall be made if the mining does not meet the requirements of total amount control.

This notice shall be implemented from the date of publication and shall be valid for 3 years. The Notice of the Ministry of Land and Resources on Regulating the Administration of Examination and Approval of Rare Earth Ore Tungsten Ore Prospecting Rights and Mining Rights (No. 9 [2015] of the Ministry of Land and Resources) shall be repealed simultaneously.

Ministry of Natural Resources

14 December 2018