MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Govt. preparing mining code overhaul.
The Falkland Islands government's mineral resources department is preparing a draft mining bill to go before the British territory's legislative council, department director Phyllis Rendell told BNamericas.
The Falkland Islands government's mineral resources department is preparing a draft mining bill to go before the British territory's legislative council, department director Phyllis Rendell told BNamericas. The islands' existing mining legislation dates back to 1919, Rendell said. While oil and gas companies have long coveted hydrocarbons exploration rights in the Falklands, especially offshore, mineral exploration is new and remains very limited.
At present only one company, Brisbane-based Falklands Gold and Minerals (FGML) is exploring on the islands. The company carried out an aeromagnetic survey late last year and is kicking off a drilling campaign on East Falkland Island next month, focusing on gold.
There is no mining currently taking place on the islands.
"FGML have an exclusive exploration permit for all [areas of] the islands where the Crown holds mineral rights," Rendell said. "There is only one landowner [in the Falkland Islands] who still retains minerals rights. The government has been removing mineral rights from the land titles as they've been sold over the last 20 or 30 years." Public attitude in the Falklands towards mineral exploration is generally positive as the economy is "fairly depressed" in rural areas "and people welcome the idea of economic activity in an environmentally responsible way," said the official. However, attitudes may change should any exploration projects advance as far as a mining operation. " We're very concerned about environmental impact," she added.
The mineral resources department will review relevant mining legislations from other countries, including Australia's, before putting together a final draft, Rendell said. Later on it will review how other mining countries charge royalties. While not on the books at the moment, the Falklands government would charge some form of royalty on any mining operations, she added.
By Dean Illot ? BNamericas.
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