Section 1: In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires –

“annual charge” means the annual charge payable by the holder of a mineral right under section 152; “artisanal mining licence” means an artisanal mining licence granted under section 86; “artisanal mining licence area” means an area that is subject to an artisanal mining licence; “artisanal mining operations” means mining operations that does not exceed a depth of ten metres; “associated minerals” means any mineral which occurs in mineralogical association with, and in the same ore deposit as the primary mineral being mined, where it is physically impossible to mine the primary mineral without also mining the mineral associated therewith; “authorised officer” means a person designated as such under section 10; “body corporate” means a company or corporation; “capital” means all cash contributions, plant, machinery, equipment, buildings, spare parts, raw materials, working capital and other business assets other than good will; “community development agreement” means a community development agreement approved under section 141; “company” means a body corporate incorporated or registered under the Companies Act; “continental shelf” means that part of the seabed and subsoil of the submarine area adjacent to the coast of Sierra Leone but outside territorial waters over which the Republic is entitled by law to exercise sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting natural resources; “court” means any duly constituted court other than a local court; “declared area” means an area declared for licensing of artisanal and small-scale mineral operations under section 30; “Director” means the Director of Mines referred to under section 4; “discovery” means a discovery of a mineral deposit or a discovery of a mineral or group of minerals occurring in quantities or circumstances that indicate the presence of a mineral deposit; “dredging permit” means a dredging permit granted by the Minister under section 126; “environmental impact assessment” means an environmental impact assessment fulfilling all requirements of this Act and the Environment Protection Act, 2000; “environmental management programme” means a plan meeting all requirements of this Act and the Environment Protection Act, 2000; “exploration licence” means an exploration licence granted by the Minister under section 71; “exploration licence area” means an area that is subject to an exploration licence; 2 3 Interpretation. Act No. 3 of 2009 Act No. 2 of 2000 Act No. 2 of 2000 “exploration operations” means operations carried out to explore; “explore” means intentionally to search for minerals and mineral deposits and includes operations to test, the mineral bearing qualities of the land, define the extent and determine the economic value of mineral deposits; “excavation” means any trench, pit, shaft or other open working; “Government” means the Government of Sierra Leone; “holder” in relation to a mineral right means the holder of a mineral right in whose name the mineral right is registered under this Act; “land” includes land beneath water, the seabed and sub- soil; “large-scale mining” means the intentional mining of minerals in mechanised operations exceeding twenty meters in depth or involving the sinking of shafts, drilling of adits or other various underground opening exceeding twenty meters; “large-scale mining licence” means a large-scale mining licence granted by the Minister under section 107; “large-scale mining licence area” means an area that is subject to a large-scale mining licence depth not exceeding twenty meters; “local council” means a local council established under the Local Government Act, 2004; “mine” when used as a noun, means any place, excavation or working or by which any operation connected with mining is carried on together with all buildings, premises, erections and appliances belonging or appertaining to it, above and below the ground, for the purpose of winning, treating or preparing minerals, obtaining or extracting any mineral or metal by any mode or method or for the purpose of dressing mineral ores, and includes a quarry where minerals are mined; “mine” when used as a verb, means intentionally to win minerals and includes any operations directly or indirectly necessary for or incidental to mining “mineral” means any substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, occurring naturally in or on the earth, in or under the water or in mine residue deposits and having been formed by or subjected to a geological process including sand, stone, rock, gravel and clay, as well as soil but excludes water, natural oil, petroleum, topsoil and peat; “mineral product” means a substance derived from an ore by mining or processing; “mineral right” means a right to explore for or to mine minerals by holding a valid reconnaissance licence, exploration licence, artisanal mining licence, smallscale mining licence, or large-scale mining licence, as the context requires; “mining area” includes an artisanal mining licence area, small-scale mining licence area, or a large-scale mining licence area, as the context requires; “mining cadastre” means the mining cadastre referred to under section 40; “Mining Cadastre Office” means the Mining Cadastre Office established under section 39; “mining operations” means operations carried out in the course of mining; “Minister” means the Minister responsible for mineral resources; “ore” means a natural aggregate of one or more minerals which may be mined and sold at a profit or from which some part may be profitably extracted; 4 5 Act No. 1 of 2004 “person” includes any company or association or body of persons corporate or unincorporated; “precious mineral” includes- (a) precious stones, namely amber, amethyst, beryl, cat’s eye, chrysotile, diamond, emerald, garnet, opal, ruby, sapphire, turquoise and all other substances of a similar nature to any of them; (b) precious metals, namely gold, silver, platinum, iridium, or ores containing any of these metals provided that they are in commercially recoverable or payable quantities; “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act; “programme of mining operations” means such a programme approved on the grant of a small-scale or large-scale mining licence and includes any amendments made to it under this Act; “prospecting licence” means a prospecting licence granted by the Minister under section 39 of the Mines and Minerals Act 1994; “radioactive mineral” means a mineral which contains by weight at least one twentieth of one percent (0.05 per centum) of uranium or thorium or any combination of it, and includes but is not limited to, (a) monazite sand and other ore containing thorium; and (b) carnotite, pitchblende and other ores containing uranium; “reconnaissance licence” means a reconnaissance licence granted by the Minister under section 58 that does not exceed ten thousand square kilometers that do not exclucive and non evasive; “reconnaissance licence area” means an area that is subject to a reconnaissance licence; “reconnaissance operations” means operations and works to carry out the search for mineral resources by geophysical surveys, geochemical surveys, photo-geological surveys or other remote sensing techniques and non-invasive surface geology in connection therewith, but excludes drilling and excavations; “register of mineral rights applications” means the mining cadastre register of mineral rights applications referred to under section 40; “register of mineral rights” means the mining cadastre register of mineral rights referred to under section 40; “regulations” means regulations made under sections 177 and 178 of this Act; “rehabilitation” means the restoration to the satisfaction of the Director of the reconnaissance licence area, exploration licence area, or mining area in accordance with the environmental management programme to, as far as is practicable, its natural state or to a safe, stable, predetermined condition and end use which is compatible with a healthy environment and with the principle of sustainable development; “Republic” means the Republic of Sierra Leone; “small-scale mining” means the intentional winning of minerals in mechanised operations not exceeding twenty metres in depth or involving the sinking of shafts, driving of adits, or other various underground openings; “small-scale mining licence” means a small-scale mining licence granted by the Minister under section 97; 6 7 Act No. 5 of 1994 “surrender” means the giving up of all or a portion of a mineral right; “small-scale mining licence area” means an area that is subject to a small-scale mining licence; “termination” means the lapse of a mineral right by expiry of time, surrender or cancellation; and where the surrender or cancellation is in respect of part only of the area covered by the mineral right, then the mineral right shall be deemed to have been surrendered or cancelled in respect of that surrendered or cancelled area; “tributer” means a person who directly or indirectly is permitted to win minerals receiving in return for the minerals so won remuneration paid directly or indirectly by the person who permitted him to win the minerals; “work for profit” means producing a mineral product for use or sale. PART II–OWNERSHIP OF MINERALS