The 2013 Bill has amended some of the obligations pertaining to commencement of development and exploitation works under an exploitation licence or mining concession and has increased the corresponding penalties.
First, the penalty applicable when the development work has not commenced after one year from the award of the title has been increased from USD 250,000 per month for the first 3 months to USD 2,000,000 per month during the same period for mining concessions, and from GNF 5,000,000 (approximately USD 710) to GNF 10,000,000 (approximately USD 1420) for semi-industrial exploitation permits. The corresponding penalty has however been maintained at USD 100,000 per month for the first 3 months in respect of industrial exploitation licenses. Similarly, the 2013 Bill has maintained the concept of a 10% monthly increase of penalty amounts from the fourth month and until the twelfth month of delay.
Also, in relation to the timeframe within which operators are required to reach the exploitation phase, the 2013 Bill has introduced a distinction between (a) exploitation activities which aim at the extraction and exportation of raw minerals and (b) exploitation activities which aim at the transformation of raw minerals in Guinea. For projects entailing extraction and exportation of raw minerals, the period to reach exploitation cannot exceed four years for holders of industrial exploitation licences and five years for holders of mining concessions. In respect to projects where in-country transformation is envisaged, the maximum delay is set at five years for holders of industrial exploitation licences and six years for mining concessions holders.
Failure to reach the exploitation phase within the prescribed period no longer leads to the monthly payment of a fixed fine but rather to penalties calculated on the basis of the difference between the expenditures actually incurred and the agreed minimum expenditure for a one year period. However, these penalties will not apply if such difference is less than 10% or if an adjusted work programme has been approved by the Minister of Mines, following prior favourable opinion of the National Commission of Mines.
Finally, the 2013 Bill has amended the definition of ‘commencement of development works’ by increasing the level of minimum expenditures from 8% to between 10% and 15% of the total amount of investment for preparatory, development and construction works.