Mining Law No. 3213 ("Mining Law") was amended with the Law Amending the Mining Law and Other Laws No. 6592, which was published in the Official Gazette on 18.02.2015 ("Amendment Law"). The Amendment Law has introduced significant changes, affecting a range of subjects the Mining Law regulates, from licensing to fees. To list a few of the modifications, mining licenses may now be transferred with the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources ("Ministry"). Royalty agreements executed between license holders and third parties are also subject to the Ministry's consent. Except for public entities, royalty arrangements are prohibited for production of underground coal mines. Current royalty agreements must be notified to the General Directorate of Mining Affairs ("Directorate") within three months following the entry into force of the amendments, or else relevant mining activities would be put to halt. Term extension requests made by license holders operating underground coal mines will not be accepted unless their royalty agreements are terminated. With the amendments, authorized legal entities will have the responsibility to prepare necessary mining reports, projects, and technical documents based on the licensing stage and provide them to the Directorate. Instead of fixed amounts, a new mechanism is put in place for annual license fees to adjust them based on group of mines and size of the area concerned. Changes have also been made to the amount of state royalty. Additional monetary fines are introduced too, for example with regards to making false statements, prevention of on-site audits, and production within the same group without a production or operation license.
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