Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002)

Chapter 1 : Definitions

1. Definitions

Purchase

In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise —

"beneficiation"

in relation to any mineral resource, means the following—

(a)	primary stage, which includes any process of the winning, recovering, extracting, concentrating, refining, calcining, classifying, crushing, screening, washing, reduction, smelting or gasification thereof;

(b)	secondary stage, which includes any action of converting a concentrate or mineral resource into an intermediate product;

(c)	tertiary stage, which includes any action of further converting that product into a refined product suitable for purchase by minerals-based industries and enterprises; and

(d)	final stage, which is the action of producing properly processed, cut, polished or manufactured products or articles from minerals accepted in the industry and trade as fully and finally processed or manufactured and value added products or articles.

[Definition inserted by section 1(a) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"block"

means any area of land or sea, including the sea bed, identified as a block by co-ordinates on a map prepared by the designated agency and situated wholly or partly in the Republic or its exclusive economic zone and includes any part of such block;

"Board"

means the Minerals and Mining Development Board established by section 57;

"broad based economic empowerment"

means a social or economic strategy, plan, principle, approach or act which is aimed at—

(a)	redressing the results of past or present discrimination based on race, gender or other disability of historically disadvantaged persons in the minerals and petroleum industry, related industries and in the value chain of such industries; and

(b)	transforming such industries so as to assist in, provide for, initiate or facilitate

(i)	the ownership, participation in or the benefiting from existing or future mining, prospecting, exploration or production operations;

(ii)	the participation in or control of management of such operations;

(iii)

the development of management, scientific, engineering or other skills of historically disadvantaged persons;

(iv)	the involvement of or participation in the procurement chains of operations;

(v)	the ownership of and participation in the beneficiation of the proceeds of the operations or other upstream or downstream value chains in such industries;

(vi)	the socio-economic development of communities immediately hosting, affected by supplying labour to the operations; and

[Paragraph (b)(vi) substituted by section 1(b) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

(vii)

the socio-economic development of all historically disadvantaged South Africans from the proceeds or activities of such operations;

"Chief Inspector"

means the Chief Inspector of Mines appointed in terms of section 48(1) of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996);

"community"

means a group of historically disadvantaged persons with interest or rights in a particular area of land on which the members have or exercise communal rights in terms of an agreement, custom or law: Provided that, where as a consequence of the provisions of this act, negotiations or consultations with the community is required, the community shall include the members or part of the community directly affect by mining on land occupied by such members or part of the community;

[Definition substituted by section 1(c) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"contractual royalties"

means any royalties or payment agreed to between parties in a mining or production operation;

"Council for Geoscience"

means the Council established by the Geoscience Act, 1993 (Act No. 100 of 1993);

[Definition inserted by section 1(d) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"day"

means a calendar day excluding a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday and when any particular number of days are prescribed for the performance of any act, those days must be reckoned by excluding the first and including the last day;

[Definition substituted by section 1(e) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"Department"

means the Department of Minerals and Energy;

"designated agency"

means the organ, agency or company designated in terms of section 70;

"development programme"

means the development programme approved under the terms and conditions of the production right;

"Director-General"

means the Director-General of the Department;

"effective date"

means the date on which the relevant permit is issued or the relevant right is executed;

[Definition inserted by section 1(f) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"employee"

means any person who works for the holder of a reconnaissance permission, prospecting right, mining right, mining permit, retention permit, technical corporation permit, reconnaissance permit, exploration right and production right, and who is entitled to receive any remuneration, and includes any employee working at or in a mine, including any person working for an independent contractor;

"environment"

means the environment as defined in the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);

"environmental authorization"

has the meaning assigned to it in section 1 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);

[Definition inserted by section 1(g) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"environmental management plan"

[Definition deleted by section 1(h) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"environmental management programme"

[Definition deleted by section 1(i) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"exclusionary act"

means any act or practice which impedes or prevents any person from entering into or actively participating in the mineral and petroleum industry, or entering into or actively participating in any market connected with the mineral and petroleum industries, or from making progress within such industry or market;

[Definition substituted by section 1(j) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"exploration area"

means the area comprising the block or blocks depicted in an exploration or production right;

"exploration operation"

means the re-processing of existing seismic data, acquisition and processing of new seismic data or any other related activity to define a trap to be tested by drilling, logging and testing, including extended well testing, of a well with the intention of locating a discovery;

"exploration right"

means the right granted in terms of section 80;

"exploration work programme"

means the approved exploration work programme indicating the petroleum operations to be conducted on the exploration area during the validity of the exploration right, including the details regarding the exploration activities, phases, equipment to be used and estimated expenditures for the different exploration activities and phases;

"financial provision"

[Definition deleted by section 1(k) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"historically disadvantaged person"

means—

(a)	any person, category of persons or community, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination before the Constitution took effect;

(b)	any association, a majority of whose members are persons contemplated in paragraph (a);

(c)	a juristic person, other than an association, which—

(i)	is managed and controlled by a person contemplated in paragraph (a) and that the persons collectively or as a group own and control a majority of the issued capital or members’ interest, and are able to control a majority of the members’ votes; or

(ii)	is a subsidiary, as defined in section 1(e) of the Companies Act, 1973, as a juristic person who is a historically disadvantaged person by virtue of the provisions of paragraph (c)(i);

[Paragraph (c) substituted by section 1(l) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"holder"

in relation to a prospecting right, mining right, mining permit, retention permit, exploration right, production right, reconnaissance permit or technical co-operation permit, means the person to whom such right or permit has been granted or such person’s successor in title;

"land"

includes the surface of the land and the sea, where appropriate;

"mine"

means, when-

(a)	used as a noun—

(i)	any excavation in the earth, including any portion under the sea or under other water or in any residue deposit, as well as any borehole, whether being worked or not, made for the purpose of searching for or winning a mineral;

(ii)

any other place where a mineral resource is being extracted, including the mining area and all buildings, structures, machinery, residue stockpiles, access roads or objects situated on such area and which are used or intended to be used in connection with such searching, winning or extraction or processing of such mineral resource; and

(b)	used as a verb, in the mining of any mineral, in or under the earth, water or any residue deposit, whether by underground or open working or otherwise and includes any operation or activity incidental thereto, in, on or under the relevant mining area;

[Definition substituted by section 1(m) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"mineral"

means any substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, occurring naturally in or on the earth or in or under water and which was formed by or subjected to a geological process, and includes sand, stone, rock, gravel, clay, soil and any mineral occurring in residue stockpiles or in residue deposits, but excludes—

(a)	water, other than water taken from land or sea for the extraction of any mineral from such water;

(b)	petroleum; or

(c)

peat;

"mining area"

(a)	in relation to a mining right or a mining permit, means the area on which the extraction of any mineral has been authorised and for which that right or permit is granted;

(b)	in relation to any environmental, health, social and labour matter and any residual, latent or other impact thereto, including—

(i)	any land or surface adjacent or non-adjacent to the area as contemplated in subsection (i) but upon which related or incidental operations are being undertaken;

(ii)

any surface of land on which such road, railway line, powerline, pipe line, cableway or conveyor belt is located, under the control of the holder of such a mining right or a mining permit and which such holder is entitled to use in connection with the operations performed or to be performed under such right or permit; and

(iii)

all buildings, structures, machinery, residue stockpiles, or objects situated on or in the area as contemplated in subsections (ii)(a) and (ii)(b).

[Definition substituted by section 1(n) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"mining operation"

means any operation relating to the act of mining and matters directly incidental thereto;

"mining permit"

means a permit issued in terms of section 27(6);

"mining right"

means a right to mine granted in terms of section 23(1);

"Mineral and Petroleum Titles Registration Office"

means the Mineral and Petroleum Titles Registration Office contemplated in section 2 of the Mining Titles Registration Act, 1967 (Act No. 16 of 1967);

[Definition of "Mining Titles Office" replaced by section 1(o) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"mining work programme"

means the planned mining work programme to be followed in order to mine a mineral resource optimally;

"Minister"

means the Minister of Minerals and Energy;

"National Environmental Management Act, 1998"

means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);

[Definition inserted by section 1(p) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"officer"

means any officer of the Department appointed under the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994);

"owner"

in relation to—

(a)

land—

(i)	means the person in whose name the land is registered; or

(ii)	if it is land owned by the State, means the State together with the occupant thereof; or

(b)	the sea, means the State;

"owner of works"

has the meaning contemplated in paragraph (b) of the definition of "owner" in section 102 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996);

[Definition inserted by section 1(q) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"petroleum"

means any liquid, solid hydrocarbon or combustible gas existing in a natural condition in the earth’s crust and includes any such liquid or solid hydrocarbon or combustible gas, which gas has in any manner been returned to such natural condition, but does not include coal, bituminous shale or other stratified deposits from which oil can be obtained by destructive distillation or gas arising from a marsh or other surface deposit;

"petroleum reservoir"

means a geological formation containing petroleum;

"prescribed"

means prescribed by regulation;

"processing"

in relation to any mineral, means the winning, extracting, concentrating, refining, calcining, classifying, crushing, screening, washing, reduction, smelting or gasification thereof;

"production area"

means any area which is subject to a production right;

"production operation"

means any operation, activity or matter that relates to the exploration, appraisal, development and production of petroleum;

"production right"

means a right granted in terms of section 84;

"prospecting"

means intentionally searching for any mineral by means of any method—

(a)	which disturbs the surface or subsurface of the earth, including any portion of the earth that is under the sea or under other water or

(b)	in or on any residue stockpile or residue deposit, in order to establish the existence of any mineral and to determine the extent and economic value thereof; or

(c)	in the sea or other water on land;

"prospecting area"

means the area of land which is the subject of any prospecting right;

"prospecting operations"

mean any activity carried on in connection with prospecting;

"prospecting right"

means the right to prospect granted in terms of section 17(1);

"prospecting work programme"

means the planned prospecting work programme to be followed in order to establish the occurrence of any mineral resource in the prospecting area during the period applied for;

"reconnaissance operation"

means any operation carried out for or in connection with the search for a mineral or petroleum by geological, geophysical and photo geological surveys and includes any remote sensing techniques, but does not include any prospecting or exploration operation other than acquisition and processing of new seismic data;

[Definition substituted by section 1(r) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"reconnaissance permit"

means a permit issued in terms of section 75(1);

"record"

means recorded information regardless of form or medium;

"regulation"

means any regulation made under section 107;

"Regional Manager"

means the officer designated by the Director-General in terms of section 8 as regional manager for a specified region;

"Regional Mining Development and Environmental Committee"

means a Regional Mining Development and Environmental Committee established in terms of section 64(1);

"residue deposit"

means any residue stockpile remaining at the termination, cancellation or expiry of a prospecting right, mining right, mining permit, exploration right, production right or an old order right;

[Definition substituted by section 1(t) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"residue stockpile"

means any debris, discard, tailings, slimes, screening. slurry, waste rock, foundry sand, beneficiation plant waste, ash or any other product derived from or incidental to a mining operation and which is stockpiled, stored or accumulated for potential re-use, or which is disposed of, by the holder of a mining right, mining permit, production right or an old order right;

[Definition substituted by section 1(u) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, 2008]

"retention area"

means the area of land which comprises the subject of a retention permit;

"retention permit"

means a permit issued in terms of section 32;

"Registrar"

means the registrar of deeds as defined in section 102 of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No. 47 of 1937);

"State royalties"

means any royalty payable to the State in terms of an Act of Parliament;

"sustainable development"

means the integration of social, economic and environmental factors into planning, implementation and decision making so as to ensure that mineral and petroleum resources development serves present and future generations;

"technical co-operation permit"

means the technical co-operation permit issued in terms of section 77(1);

"the sea"

means the water of the sea, as well as the bed of the sea and the subsoil thereof below the low-water mark as defined in the Seashore Act, 1935 (Act No.21 of 1935), and within—

(1)	the territorial waters as contemplated in section 4 of the Maritime Zones Act, 1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994), of the Republic, including the water and the bed of any tidal river and of any tidal lagoon;

(2)	the exclusive economic zone as contemplated in section 7 of the Maritime Zones Act, 1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994); and

(3)	the continental shelf as contemplated in section 8 of the Maritime Zones Act, 1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994);

"this Act"

includes the regulations and any term or condition to which any permit, permission, licence right, consent, exemption, approval, notice, closure certificate, environmental management plan, environmental management programme or directive issued, given, granted or approved in terms of this Act, is subject; "topsoil" means the layer of soil covering the earth which—

(a)	provides a suitable environment for the germination of seed;

(b)	allows the penetration of water;

(c)	is a source of micro-organisms, plant nutrients and in some cases seed; and

(d)	is not of a depth of more than Q5 metres or such other depth as the Minister may prescribe for a specific prospecting or exploration area or a mining area.