According to the federal government, the current law enables the predatory exploitation of the country’s mineral resources. This is because a mining concession grants the holder rights over all the resources found within the concessioned area. As a result, the concessionaire controls all minerals or substances discovered, without the State or the community benefiting from these resources.

The proposed initiative suggests a change. It proposes granting the concession only for specific minerals or substances that are viable for exploitation. This change aims to provide greater control and generate more resources for both the State and the affected communities.

Another proposed change involves modifying the assignment process. The head of the Ministry of Economy would be authorized to grant assignments to public parastatal companies. These assignments would allow them to carry out mineral or substance exploration and exploitation activities.

The assignment would have an indefinite term. The assignee entity would bear the same obligations as the concessionaire, but it would not be allowed to transfer its rights and obligations to private third parties.

Additionally, the initiative seeks to eliminate the three «afirmativas fictas» from the Mining Law. This would leave the concession granting process to be based solely on a competitive bidding process. Moreover, the extension of the concession would depend on the concessionaire meeting its social and tax obligations.

The initiative also introduces a new chapter on crimes. This chapter aims to penalize illegal mining activities. It defines crimes such as illegal mineral extraction, the sale or trafficking of minerals and metallurgical products not under concession, endangering workers’ safety due to non-compliance with regulations, and the illegal export of mining and metallurgical products.