THE Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) will expedite the release of exploration licences (ELs) to increase spending on mineral searches in the country.
MRA managing director Kepas Wali said his agency had already issued 50 licences since it began operations last June compared to only eight issued last year out of the 132 applications.
Mr Wali said exploration was important in the country’s economy because it brought in companies who spend money prospecting for minerals, which can later lead to productive mining projects.
The expenditure in the country was estimated at K129 million in 2006, but this only accounted for less than 1% of the US$7 billion spent globally.
Mr Wali said processing of licences had lagged behind in the past mainly due to the phasing out of the mining advisory board (MAB) under the previous Department of Mining.
This function is now being performed by the mining advisory council (MAC) with recommendations forwarded to the Minister for Mining who makes the final decision for issuance of licences.
“Last September, 59 applications were received and 46 licences were issued,” Mr Wali said.
Registrar of Tenements Stan Nekitel said they had already exceeded 50 ELs as of last month and was confident more approvals could be made during the remaining months of the year
“We had done pretty well this year … we had five meetings so far and cleared over 50 ELs,” Mr Nekitel said.
Mr Wali attributed the increase in EL applications to the Government’s attractive fiscal policy regime with tax breaks for companies involved in exploration, the country’s high prospectivity and high commodity prices.