On 9/10 March, MCRB hosted a multistakeholder discussion on licensing and responsible business practices for gold mining in Sagaing Region bringing together government officials from the Mining, Forestry and Environmental Conservation Departments of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), General Administration Department (GAD), the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration (DICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI), together with parliamentarians from across Sagaing Region, including Homalin, Tigyaing , Kawlin, Wuntho, Indaw, and Pinlebu townships. They were joined in Monywa by local and international mining companies, civil society organisations and international NGOs and experts. Read more: https://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/news/towards-responsible-gold-mining-sagaing-region.html

1. Decentralization of artisanal and small-scale
mining governance:
Considerations for Sagaing
MCRB workshop
Monywa, March 2019
www.resourcegovernance.org
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2. Overview
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3. Objectives
• Provide an overview of the complexities of ASM governance.
• Strengthen understanding of mining decentralization in Myanmar.
• Support the identification of priority issues and recommendations
for reform.
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4. Overview of Myanmar’s decentralization process
• 2008 Constitution and 2015 amendment.
• 2015 Union Mines Law and 2018 Union Mines Rules.
• Decentralization as a stepping stone towards federalism?
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Deconcentration Decentralization Federalism

5. Myanmar ASM overview
• Economic importance:
• Rural jobs and livelihoods
• Major contribution to mineral
production
• Governance challenges:
• Extremely high levels of informality
• High environmental and social impacts
• Informal governance, criminality and
conflict 5
Source: Pact

6. Opportunities of decentralization
• Promote formalization.
• Bring decision-making, revenue collection and monitoring closer
to impacted stakeholders.
• Empower Myanmar’s states and regions.
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7. Formalization
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Unlicensed,
informal ASM
Responsible,
licensed ASMIncrease in technology, education, access to land, finance, environmental and
social protection
• Supporting artisanal and small-scale miners to operate legally and
responsibly.
• Strengthens livelihoods, reduces environmental and social impacts
and facilitates revenue collection.

8. Licensing
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9. Background
• 2015 Mines Law and 2018 Mines Rules say that State or Region Scrutiny Boards
are responsible for small-scale and subsistence permits.
• Composition of state/region boards defined in Union MONREC notification.
• State/region permitting mostly restricted to ASM zones defined by Union MONREC.
• Thousands of applications received by states/regions but few permits issued so far.
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10. Key issues
• Mismanagement and corruption
• Overlaps and conflicts with large-scale mining
• Ongoing lack of formalization
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11. Case study: Indonesia
• Decentralization led to tenure
insecurity, mismanagement and
corruption.
• More than 10,000 small-scale
licenses were issued without
information being properly
recorded.
• More than 134,000 hectares
overlapped with protected areas;
nearly 2 million hectares
overlapped with forestry and
agriculture.
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Tin mine in Belitung, Indonesia
Source: Andrew Bauer for NRGI

12. Define clear and objective licensing procedures
• Set out a clear and predicable step-by-step licensing process.
• Clearly define who is involved at each stage and what role they
play.
• Define objective criteria for evaluating applications.
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13. Illustrative licensing process
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1. Pre-
screening
Committee
secretary:
- Receives
application
- Checks
eligibility using
checklist
2. Receive
license fee
Committee
secretary:
- Receives
payment
- Issues signed
and stamped
receipt
3. Log
application
Committee
secretary:
- Records
application in
registry
- Records
application in
license
database
4. Review
application
Committee
members:
- Review
application
using
checklist
- Make
decision
within 14
days
5. Issue
license
Committee
chair:
- Issues license
- Issues
operational
guidelines
7. Issue
rejection
Committee
chair:
- Reviews
reasons for
rejection
- Issues formal
rejection
6. Record
license
Committee
secretary:
- Updates
license
database
- Shares
information
with Union
- Publicly posts
license
information
Yes?
No?
Registration (steps 1-3 must be completed immediately after submission) Review (14 days max.) Granting (same day)
Yes? Yes? Yes? Yes?

14. Put in place coherent systems to store and manage information
• Ensure all applications are recorded in a registry book.
• Ensure all licenses are recorded in a database that is harmonized
with the national cadastre.
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15. Example of a registry book from Mauritania
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16. Illustrative template of a license database
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License
code
Production
block
number
License
status
Application date Issuing date Expiry date
Applicant
name
Applicant
NRC number
Location of
artisanal or small-
scale mining zone
(village, township,
district,
state/region)
GIS
coordinates
of artisanal
or small-
scale mining
zone
License
type
License
size
Type of
mineral
Day Month Year Day Month Year Day Month Year

17. Put in place simple transparency mechanisms
• Publish laws, rules, notifications, procedures and evaluation
criteria.
• Publish model mining agreements and/or actual permits.
• Regularly publish list of all awarded licenses (e.g. via Facebook).
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18. Actively manage relations with large-scale miners
• ASM zones can help to avoid overlaps but pose many other
challenges.
• Deciding where to allow ASM requires detailed geological
information.
• Dialogue is needed between government, ASM and large-scale
exploration companies.
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19. Risk of licensing ASM in areas with no geological potential
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ASM zone
Primary
deposit
Secondary
deposit

20. Risk of licensing ASM in areas with large-scale potential
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ASM zone
Primary
deposit
Secondary
deposit

21. Getting it right…(almost)
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ASM zone
Primary
deposit
Secondary
deposit
?
?

22. Put in place a formalization strategy
• Find ways to make it as easy as possible for miners to work
legally:
• Simplify application forms.
• Simplify procedures and criteria.
• Reduce review timeframes.
• Reduce the physical distance miners have to travel to apply for
a license.
• Reduce the costs of acquiring a license.
• Actively reach out to artisanal and small-scale miners.
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23. Environment
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24. Background
• Environmental requirements defined in Environmental Conservation Law (2012) and
Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures (2015).
• Miners need an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the
Environmental Conservation Department (ECD).
• Legal framework is ambiguous about what you to do to get an ECC:
• Environmental Impact Assessment?
• Initial Environmental Examination?
• Environmental Management Plan?
• Both ECD and Department of Mines have monitoring responsibilities.
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25. Overview of the IEE process
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26. Key issues
• Potential for major environmental impacts (e.g. mercury).
• Unclear roles and responsibilities between different government
departments.
• Complicated and unrealistic legal requirements.
• Capacity constraints.
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27. Simplify environmental approval processes
• Conduct cumulative impact
assessments
• Develop IEE template
• Support rehabilitation
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Example of simplified environmental assessments and guidance
Source: Coffey/Valentis, EMP for Hpakant

28. Case study: Mongolia
• Ministry of Mining partnered with
Swiss development agency and Asia
Foundation to develop rehabilitation
methodology and code of practice.
• Developed in close collaboration with
local governments and artisanal
miners.
• Frugal Rehabilitation methodology
defined as “economically affordable,
socially acceptable and ecologically
viable.”
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Source: Asia Foundation / Marieke Heemskerk

29. Strengthen monitoring and enforcement
• Be clear which institutions are responsible for monitoring and
enforcement.
• Make sure the amount of permits issued do not exceed ability to
effectively monitor.
• Consider establishing community monitoring schemes.
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30. Thank you
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For more information contact Sebastian Sahla (ssahla@resourcegovernance.org).