Mining firms to file returns online

Mining companies will now be required to make regulatory filings online. The move is expected to ease the process of obtaining permits in the country’s mining industry.

This follows the Government’s completion of the digitisation of the mining registry and the setting up of an online portal that goes live starting today. “The mining registry has been transformed into an Online Transactional Mining Cadastre for the management of all mineral rights and mineral dealers operations in the country in communication, reporting and payments,” read a notice by Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala published in the Kenya Gazette. “All applications including supporting documents shall submitted through the online cadastre system accessed via portal: www.miningcadasfe.go.ke with effect from February 2014.”

He said the move is part of ongoing efforts to develop capacity in the country’s nascent mining industry. Mining firms and mineral right holders will also be required to get fresh accreditation from the Government before being granted access to the system. “Data contained in the mining cadastre for existing mineral holder shall remain provisional and mineral right holders will be required to authenticate the data on or before the March 2015,” stated CS Balala.