Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act, 2024.

This Act, comprising 38 Sections, introduces several significant changes to Botswana's mining legislation, primarily focusing on citizen economic empowerment, environmental responsibility, and increased regulatory oversight. The most important amendments include (i) ownership and economic benefit (Section 3): all mineral ownership remains vested in the republic. However, the amendment explicitly mandates that mineral exploration and development must promote and contribute to the national economy and ensure that citizens have equitable access and benefit from these resources; (ii) citizen preference and beneficiation (Section 12): this new section requires concession holders to prioritize materials and products from citizen-owned or botswana-registered companies. It also mandates that minerals be beneficiated (processed or treated) within Botswana as far as feasible and that citizens be given preference in employment; (iii) prospecting licence renewals and areas (Sections 17 and 19): the number of renewals for a prospecting licence has increased from two to three renewals. The maximum total area one entity or its subsidiaries can cover under prospecting licences is now capped at 10,000km²; (iv) transfer of controlling interest (Sections 23, 36, and 50): these amendments require ministerial approval for any transfer or assignment of a "controlling interest" in a company holding a prospecting, retention, or mining licence. A controlling interest is defined as owning more than 50% of shares or voting rights; (v) mining licences for industrial minerals (Sections 37 and 53): applications for mining licences to exploit industrial minerals are now restricted to citizens or companies with more than 60% citizen shareholding; (vi) bankable feasibility studies (Sections 32, 33, and 39): the requirements for retention and mining licence applications have been upgraded to require a "bankable feasibility study" instead of a general feasibility study; (vii) government option and citizen participation (Section 40): a new subsection (2a) allows the holder of a mining licence to dispose of a working interest participation of up to 24% to citizens or citizen-owned companies if the government chooses not to exercise its option to acquire that interest; (viii) environmental rehabilitation and mine closure (Sections 2 and 80): new definitions for "rehabilitation," "closure certificate," and "rehabilitation and mine closure plan" were added to Section 2. Section 80 was amended to include specific work program requirements for coal bed methane operations; (ix) small-scale mining definition (Section 2): "small scale mining" is now specifically defined as operations involving the mining and processing of less than 50,000 tonnes of raw ore per annum (excluding precious stones and metals).