Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa (Khanh Hoa) asked whether the company violated the act of mining without a mine executive director or not in the mentioned case. How should the act of mining without a mine executive director be properly understood?

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responded to this issue as follows:

The mine executive director is regulated in Article 62, Clause 1 of the Mineral Law:

"Mining activities must have a mine executive director, except in cases of mineral water extraction, natural hot water extraction, and full recovery of mineral resources. A mine executive director shall only manage mining activities according to a mining license."

The responsibilities of the mine executive director are defined in Article 8, Clause 1 of Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016, issued by the Government to provide detailed regulations on the implementation of certain provisions of the Mineral Law:

"The mine executive director is responsible for managing mining activities in accordance with the mining license; implementing investment projects and approved mine designs in accordance with mineral laws; complying with regulations on safety, labor, and environmental protection in mining activities."