The Mines and Minerals Act (Chapter 21:05) governs tribute agreements (the Act). A tribute agreement, as defined by section 283 of the Act, is any arrangement or contract in which a person grants a tributer a tribute, license, concession, authority, or other right to mine a mining location. It also includes any agreement to modify the terms of a tribute agreement that has been approved by the Mining Affairs Board (MAB) and any renewal of a tribute agreement that has been approved by the MAB.
The individual who has been given permission to mine a mining site under a tribute arrangement is referred to as a tributer in this context. Any individual who has granted a tributer the authority to mine a mining place under a tribute arrangement is referred to as a grantor. A mining site is a specific area of land where mining rights or rights related to mining have been obtained under the Act or that were obtained under any prior mine and mineral law.
Section 280 of the Act states that if a registered mining location’s owner has agreed in writing to give a tribute or any other limited right to work the mining location to another person, referred to as the tributer, the tributer may, after the agreement has been approved under this Act, apply to the mining commissioner (now known as the provincial mining director) to have a notarial deed containing the terms of the agreement registered in the mining commissioner’s office. A register will be kept in which details of the agreement will be entered.
The following details will be included in the tribute agreement: the names of the parties; the name and registration number of the mining site or mining lease that the agreement is related to; and the start and end dates of the rights granted by such an agreement. The requirement that the tribute agreement be in the form of a notarial deed is emphasized.
It is illegal for the owner of a mining location to abandon all or a portion of the location while the agreement is in effect. Section 280(6) states that any agreement registered under this section will be binding on anyone who purchases ownership of the mining location or any interest therein. The terms of each tribute agreement must be reduced to writing in accordance with section 284 of the Act. The agreement and the required number of copies must then be submitted to the mining commissioner for review and approval by the mining commissioner or the MAB.
In accordance with Section 285(1), the MAB has the power to provide the mining commissioner permission to approve any tribute agreement that complies with a standard agreement that the MAB has created and approved. If the mining commissioner approves the tribute agreement, they must notify the MAB, the landowner or occupier, and provide a copy of the agreement to the MAB. In terms of the Act’s section 283(3), the mining commissioner must submit a tribute agreement to the MAB for review if he does not personally approve it.
Section 286 states that if the MAB examines a tribute agreement that a mining commissioner has submitted to it, it may approve the agreement, endorse its approval, and notify the landowner or occupier of the land in question if it is satisfied that: The method of determining the tribute royalty payable to the grantor and the rate of such royalty are satisfactory and are not likely to postpone the mine’s development or expansion or result in the early termination of mining operations, and that the grantor’s and tributer’s interests are sufficiently protected, that the duration of the agreement is well-defined, and that the parties’ interests are sufficiently protected in the event that notice of termination is required, that the agreement’s development work is appropriate given the situation, not excessively onerous, and unlikely to result in the mine’s mining operations ending too soon, and that the tributer must do enough development work to guarantee that mining operations on the mine continue, that the grantor has the right to periodically and at reasonable times inspect the mine to make sure that the terms of the agreement are being followed, and that the agreement is satisfactory in all respects and likely to lead to the mine being mined to the greatest advantage.
Tribute mining agreements are important because they enable mining with lower capital requirements, generate income for landowners, and mitigate financial risk for both parties. They are especially valuable in small-scale or informal mining sectors and can support sustainable and inclusive economic development when well-managed.