The obligation to obtain a concession for extracting minerals when minerals are detached from deposits in connection with construction works
Grzegorz Lubeńczuk
Uniwersytet Marii-Curie Skłodowskiej w Lubliniehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5028-8020
Abstract
The article discusses the need to obtain a concession for extracting minerals from deposits, as required by Article 21, Section 1, Item 2 of the Act of 9 June 2011 Geological and Mining Law, when minerals are detached from deposits during construction work. Construction often involves groundworks that may detach minerals from the deposit on site. It can be assumed that lawmakers did not intend to require concessions for extracting minerals as part of construction work, but they did not explicitly exclude this in the law. This creates difficulties in determining when mineral separation during construction does not require a concession. In the opinion of administrative courts, the detaching of a mineral from a deposit does not require a concession when it occurs during a construction process carried out in compliance with all formal requirements. However, it should be argued that the legislator intended to exempt from the requirement to obtain a concession the detaching of a mineral from a deposit, which is justified by the scope and manner of construction work. Consequently, when assessing the circumstances related to the detaching of a mineral from a deposit, the most important element should be the purpose of such detaching, not the fact that it occurs during the construction process. This study aims to identify solutions that would allow for a clear distinction between situations involving the detaching of a mineral from a deposit that occurs in connection with construction work and the activity of extracting minerals from deposits, which requires a concession. Solutions could include legislative changes, such as introducing clear legal definitions of mineral extraction or mineral extraction activities or adding a provision to explicitly exempt the separation of minerals during construction from licensing requirements. Under current law, it is important to move away from the approach taken by administrative courts, which focuses on physically disconnecting the mineral during construction, and instead consider the real purpose of separating the mineral from the deposit.
Keywords:
geological and mining law, construction law, construction works, mineral extraction, concessionReferences
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Uniwersytet Marii-Curie Skłodowskiej w Lublinie
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5028-8020
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