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Mines and geology · National Directorate of Mines

Reconnaissance authorisation

Allows reconnaissance work for indications of one or more mineral substances, over zones that are neither closed nor covered by another title for the same substance. It is granted for up to six months, renewable once. It confers no exclusive right and cannot be transferred.

Version 1

What it allows

To prospect the zone for indications: surface surveys, sampling, airborne geophysics. What comes out of the ground in the course of that work may be freely disposed of, subject to a declaration to the National Directorate of Mines, so long as the work is not of the nature of extraction.

Who may apply

Any person, natural or legal, who is a candidate for a research permit over the zones concerned. The authorisation is inalienable: it can be neither assigned, nor leased, nor transferred.

An individualA company

At a glance

Competent authority

National Directorate of Mines

Statutory time

72 days

Valid for

6 months

Renewal

Renewable, from 60 days before it ends

What it costs

  • Fixed grant dutyGNF 2,000,000

    Payable when it is issued · Arrêté conjoint du Ministre chargé des Mines et du Ministre chargé des Finances fixant les droits fixes et redevances du secteur minier

Total, filing and issueGNF 2,000,000

What to bring

Some of these depend on your answers; the list narrows as you fill the form in.

  • Description of the work and the means

    Two pages are enough: what is being looked for, how, with what means, and over which part of the zone.

    Code minier, art. 42 à 45 (autorisation de reconnaissance)

  • Simplified environmental undertaking

    A full notice is not required for surface work. The undertaking covers making good the sampling points.

    Ordonnance n° 045/PRG/SGG/87 du 28 mai 1987 portant Code de la protection et de la mise en valeur de l’environnement

Before you start

  • The coordinates of the zone you want to reconnoitre.
  • The substances whose indications you are looking for.
  • A short description of the work and the means you will commit.

How it is handled

  1. Completeness check

    10 days

  2. Cadastral check (CPDM)

    20 days

  3. Opinion of the National Directorate of Geology

    20 days

  4. Decision

    10 days

  5. Signature by the National Director of Mines

    10 days

  6. Notification

    2 days

If the answer is no

An appeal may be made to the National Director of Mines within two months of notification, then to the Minister for Mines, and finally before the competent administrative court.

The texts this rests on

  • Code minier, art. 42 à 45 (autorisation de reconnaissance)

Versions of this procedure

  • Version 1 · 2026-01-01In force

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