Proposed legislation · Energy, infrastructure, water, environment and urban development

Mineral Investment and Mineral Resources Management Law

Document number
POL-61

Version
1.0

Publication/update date
7 October 2026

Scope
Republic of Iraq

Executive summary

The proposal moves mineral regulation beyond its 1988 framework to connect exploration and extraction rights with digital geological records, competition, transparency, beneficial ownership, accurate measurement and pre-funded closure. It does not assume mineral extraction is an exclusive federal competence equivalent to oil and gas. A cooperative framework respects constitutional federal, regional and governorate responsibilities, identifying the granting authority for every area and decision.

Existing institutions are retained rather than adding a heavy new authority: Industry and Minerals handles policy and standards within its competence; the Geological Survey handles knowledge and data; local and regional bodies handle rights within theirs; and a coordination council has no licensing power. Investment licences are distinguished from mineral rights, and regulators from commercially active public companies.

Known deposits shall be competitively allocated; lawful discoverers receive conditional priority. Published royalties shall be set by impact-assessed regulation rather than one rate for all minerals. Revenue enters the treasury under general financial rules, while payments, contracts and beneficial owners are disclosed. Progressive rehabilitation, closure plans and independent financial guarantees before extraction prevent exhausted-mine costs passing to the state and communities.

Current baseline

The National Investment Commission still lists Mineral Investment Regulation Law No. (91) of 1988, as amended, among applicable laws. On 12 March 2013, Federal Supreme Court Decision (10/Federal/2013) suspended Articles (13, 15 and 16) because administrative officials may not exercise judicial powers. Decision (14/Federal/2019) confirmed suspension took effect from judgment. Separating administrative sanctions from judicial competence is therefore a central constitutional requirement for replacement legislation.

On 26 August 2026, the Council of Representatives completed the first reading of the draft ‘Mineral Investment Law’, explaining that the 1988 law no longer meets sector needs and that Iraqi and foreign private investment should be enabled. Published proceedings referred it to Investment and Development, Economy, Industry and Trade, and Finance committees. POL-61 therefore offers a broader framework potentially integrated into the ongoing legislative process before final enactment.

1988Year of the principal existing mineral law

2013Suspension of unconstitutional judicial-power provisions

26 August 2026First reading of the new parliamentary bill

55.5/100Iraq's score in the EITI assessment published in 2025

Iraq's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative page identifies Industry and Minerals as the federal regulator of mineral extraction and marketing, while mineral contracts remain described as confidential and beneficial-ownership disclosure has gaps. Existing operators include the State Company for Phosphates and Al-Mishraq Sulphur State Company; the Geological Survey continues testing, surveying and laboratory work. Reform should improve licensing, transparency and data rather than create parallel institutions.

Constitutional and legal context

The Constitution supports investment, economic reform and public-asset protection and expressly addresses oil and gas ownership and management. Mining and other minerals do not appear as a separate exclusive federal competence. Legislation must therefore respect competence allocation and regional/governorate powers rather than assume unprovided absolute central licensing.

Mining intersects with Investment Law No. (13) of 2006, Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. (27) of 2009, Labour Law No. (37) of 2015 and company, tax, customs, land, water, antiquities and safety laws, which cannot be implicitly repealed. A mineral right is distinct: investment licences may grant incentives but not ore; environmental approval grants no land; land ownership grants no subsurface minerals.

Governing constitutional rule: No provision grants administrative officials criminal-court or judicial-confiscation powers. Stop orders and challengeable administrative fines remain administrative; crimes, custodial penalties and judicial confiscation are determined by competent courts.

Legislative gap

Problems addressed
Gap	Effect	Proposed treatment
Principal law nearly four decades old	Poor alignment with modern investment, digitisation and corporate governance.	Comprehensive replacement, digital registry and stage-specific rights.
Previous provisions gave officials judicial powers	Judicial suspension and enforcement gaps.	Clear separation of administrative sanctions and judiciary.
Multiple authorities and constitutional boundaries	Duplicate or conflicting licence risks.	Defined competent granting authority, shared registry and inter-level coordination.
Confidential contracts and beneficial ownership	Weak revenue verification and conflict-of-interest scrutiny.	Publish licences, contracts, payments and beneficial owners.
Closure treated separately	Exhausted-mine costs may pass to the state.	Closure plan and independent financial guarantee before extraction.
No modern public cadastre	Overlapping areas and investment/monitoring difficulties.	Digital mineral registry linked to land, environmental and water data.

Proposed legislative policy

Rights progress from reconnaissance to exploration and mining. Unknown areas use simplified allocation preventing land hoarding; known deposits and strategic projects are openly competed. Compliant explorers who actually invest and discover resources receive conditional mining-application priority, so later competition does not expropriate privately created exploration value.

Public finances are protected through measurement of every produced tonne or unit, published mineral- and market-based royalties rather than arbitrary uniform rates, and reconcilable company/state revenue disclosures. Producing areas receive support transparently through budget- or revenue-law transfers rather than rigid shares outside the financial system.

The Geological Survey holds knowledge without becoming a competing regulator. Publicly funded data become open; rights-holder data are submitted to the state with limited confidentiality. Knowledge accumulates rather than disappearing when contracts end or companies leave.

Draft law

In the name of the people
Presidency of the Republic
On the basis of enactment by the Council of Representatives and ratification by the President, under Article (61), First, and Article (73), Second, of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq, the following Law is proposed:

Chapter One — General provisions and definitions

Article 1 — Title

This Law is entitled the ‘Mineral Investment and Mineral Resources Management Law of 2026’ and applies within its specified scope.

Article 2 — Objectives

This Law aims at sustainable, economically efficient and transparent mineral management; responsible investment; geological knowledge translated into added value and jobs; environmental, water and public-health protection; treasury revenue collection; and prevention of unlawful extraction and waste.

Article 3 — Scope

It applies to reconnaissance, prospecting, exploration, evaluation, development, extraction, mining, quarrying, ore processing, mine-waste reprocessing, closure and rehabilitation within each body's constitutional and legal competences.

Article 4 — Excluded resources

Crude oil, natural gas and hydrocarbons under specific legislation, and groundwater as a water resource, are excluded. Nuclear or radioactive materials are covered only insofar as consistent with special legislation and competent approvals.

Article 5 — Respect for competence allocation

Constitutional federal, shared, regional and governorate competences shall be respected. No provision creates exclusive federal power over resources not constitutionally assigned as such or diminishes established regional or governorate powers.

Article 6 — Public mineral ownership

Natural minerals underground or at the surface before lawful extraction are public property managed by competent authorities for the people, preserving economic/environmental value and future generations' rights.

Article 7 — Mineral and ore definitions

Minerals are naturally occurring non-hydrocarbon substances of economic value capable of extraction or processing. Ore is a natural concentration of one or more minerals technically and economically exploitable. Regulations shall classify mineral, quarry, industrial and strategic materials.

Article 8 — Mineral rights

A mineral right is permission, a licence or investment contract issued herein authorising specified activities within defined areas, periods and conditions. General investment licences, land ownership and leases do not substitute.

Article 9 — Competent granting authority

The granting authority is the relevant ministry, regional or non-regional governorate body according to location, powers and ownership source. Its identity and competence boundaries shall be recorded in the digital cadastre.

Article 10 — Mineral investor

An Iraqi or foreign natural or legal person holding a mineral right and demonstrating technical/financial capacity and integrity of beneficial ownership.

Article 11 — Beneficial owner

A natural person ultimately owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, the investor or mineral-right beneficiary under applicable statutory and transparency thresholds and criteria.

Article 12 — Affected community

Residents or holders of legitimate rights and interests directly and materially affected by mining operations, roads, water use, emissions or closure.

Article 13 — Mining waste

Mining waste includes waste rock, concentration residues, backfill, slag, solutions, sediments and extraction/processing remnants. Holders remain responsible until lawful reuse or safe disposal.

Article 14 — No regulatory fragmentation

Projects, areas or contract chains shall not be split to evade competition, environmental assessment, investment approval, competence limits or financial disclosure.

Article 15 — Governing principles

Management shall follow fair competition, non-discrimination, information access, conflict prevention, separation of regulation and commerce, damage-cost recovery, polluter pays, progressive rehabilitation and protection of lawful acquired rights without immunising violations or exempting safety and environment rules.

Chapter Two — Mineral policy and institutional responsibilities

Article 16 — National mineral policy

With constitutionally competent bodies, Industry and Minerals shall prepare policy updated at least every five years, covering exploration, production, added value, industrial/environmental security, data and skills, without centralising licensing of projects within other competences.

Article 17 — Ministry of Industry and Minerals

Within federal powers, the Ministry shall set general technical standards, propose regulations, coordinate national data, administer rights within competence, monitor markets/value chains, cooperate internationally and publish annual reports.

Article 18 — Geological Survey

The Geological Survey shall be the national technical reference for surveys, maps and geological databases, advising on resources, reserves and exploration programmes without combining application assessment and commercial decisions where it or affiliates benefit.

Article 19 — Regulatory/operational separation

Authorities shall separate licensing and supervision organisationally and financially from public extraction, processing or marketing companies as far as possible. Public companies face the same disclosure, safety and competition rules absent express objective statutory exceptions.

Article 20 — Mineral Coordination Council

The Council of Ministers shall establish a council without legal personality, chaired by the Minister and comprising relevant federal bodies and willing regional/governorate representatives, coordinating maps, standards, data and cross-boundary projects and resolving procedural conflicts before disputes arise.

Article 21 — No parallel licensing authority

The council has no original power to grant or revoke rights and does not replace competent ministries, regions, governorates or environmental, water or investment authorities.

Article 22 — Single contact point

Every granting authority shall establish a unified electronic window for rights applications and related approvals. Unified submission is procedural, without merging independent approvals or removing substantive assessment powers.

Article 23 — Investment commissions

For projects under investment legislation, granting authorities shall coordinate with the National Investment Commission or competent commission. Investment licences remain separate; extraction requires effective mineral rights and necessary environmental and land approvals.

Article 24 — Environment and water authorities

Final extraction licences require environmental approval and lawful water-source, discharge or reuse arrangements. Environmental and water advice shall be sought early.

Article 25 — Antiquities and heritage

Competent bodies shall identify protected heritage areas and exclusion zones prohibiting licensing or requiring special approval. Chance-find procedures apply to previously unrecorded antiquities discovered during operations.

Article 26 — Security and borders

Border, military and security-sensitive-material projects require statutory security approvals. Such approvals shall neither replace competition nor conceal non-sensitive information.

Article 27 — Institutional reporting

The Ministry and granting bodies shall annually disclose granted, expired and suspended rights, exploration areas, reported production, public payments, environmental and oversight measures and major violations within limited lawful commercial confidentiality.

Chapter Three — Geological information and digital mineral cadastre

Article 28 — Digital cadastre

A unified interoperable registry shall show maps, open/reserved areas, applications and priorities, active rights and status, granting bodies, holders, beneficial owners and principal restrictions, with an indelible electronic audit trail.

Article 29 — Registry management

The Geological Survey shall technically host national geological layers. Granting bodies shall enter decisions immediately. Hosting does not transfer powers to grant or review rights.

Article 30 — Coordinate authority

Coordinates in the approved national geodetic system shall define technical boundaries, retaining electronically signed original plans and enabling overlap checks before application acceptance.

Article 31 — National geological survey

The Survey shall periodically plan geological, geochemical, geophysical and remote-sensing surveys and map updates, prioritising information gaps and economic, environmental or security importance.

Article 32 — Publicly financed data

Wholly publicly funded data and maps are public data, published in usable digital formats after validation and removal of specifically security-restricted information.

Article 33 — Rights-holder data

Holders shall periodically submit raw and interpreted data, samples, records and results under unified specifications for the national geological archive.

Article 34 — Technical confidentiality period

Detailed investor-funded exploration data may receive regulatory confidentiality no longer than necessary to protect exploration advantage, ending on right expiry, area surrender or maximum-period expiry, whichever occurs first, unless law provides otherwise for specific information.

Article 35 — Samples and drill cores

The Survey shall operate a national sample, drill-core and physical/digital-record repository. Representative samples may be required without obstructing legitimate commercial analysis.

Article 36 — Resource and reserve classification

With the Survey, universities and professional bodies, the Ministry shall adopt internationally compatible national classification/disclosure standards. Public reports require qualified competent-person signatures.

Article 37 — Misleading markets

Resources or reserves shall not be described as confirmed or economically recoverable without approved technical foundations. Preliminary findings may be published with confidence levels and limitations clearly stated.

Article 38 — Open data

The registry shall provide lawful public search/download access including at least right name, location, duration, holder, beneficial owner, mineral, project stage and basic compliance status.

Article 39 — Land/environment registry integration

Phased linkage to cadastral records, land-use maps, protected areas, antiquities, water sources and infrastructure shall reduce pre-licensing conflicts.

Chapter Four — Mineral-right types and eligibility

Article 40 — Right types

Rights comprise reconnaissance permits, exploration licences, mining/extraction licences, quarry licences, mine-waste reprocessing authorisations and regulatory subtypes within this Law.

Article 41 — Reconnaissance permits

Non-exclusive permits allow non-destructive observation and limited surface data collection without substantial drilling or commercial extraction for one year, renewable once with justification.

Article 42 — Exploration licences

Exploration permits drilling, sampling, testing and resource estimation under approved programmes, excluding commercial output except necessary fully recorded regulatory test quantities.

Article 43 — Exploration duration

Licences last up to four years, renewable twice for up to two years each, upon proven spending, work and phased area relinquishment under regulations.

Article 44 — Mining licences

Mining licences permit mine construction, ore extraction, initial processing and supporting facilities under approved plans, effective only after land, environment, water, safety and financial-guarantee conditions.

Article 45 — Mining duration

Duration shall reflect economic mine life and closure plans, initially no more than twenty-five years, renewable for periods totalling no more than fifteen years if economic resources and compliance remain.

Article 46 — Quarry licences

Regulated construction/quarry materials receive licences up to five years, renewable according to project need, resources and environmental/land compliance.

Article 47 — Waste reprocessing

Historic or current waste may be licensed after ownership, environmental liability, mineral value and residual-disposal plans are established. Original polluters retain established prior liability.

Article 48 — Legal eligibility

Applicants must be registered and legally competent to contract, disclose structures, beneficial ownership and material funding sources, and lack final corruption, money-laundering or resource-smuggling convictions legally precluding eligibility.

Article 49 — Technical capacity

Exploration/mining applicants shall provide adequate teams, plans, experience or professional contracts for project type and risk. New companies may qualify through capable shareholders or contractors and performance assurance.

Article 50 — Financial capacity

Mining applicants shall demonstrate development, operating and closure finance through examinable models. Non-binding funding promises alone do not prove solvency.

Article 51 — Conflicts of interest

Officials evaluating, granting or supervising rights, their spouses and minor children shall hold no direct interests in those rights and shall disclose and recuse under integrity/conflict laws.

Article 52 — Subsidiaries and fronts

Commonly controlled companies count as one unit for area caps, competition, disclosure and anti-monopoly purposes. Front companies shall not conceal control or fragment rights.

Article 53 — Assignment and control transfer

Rights or actual control may transfer only with granting-body approval after recipient eligibility, paid obligations and consideration/beneficial-ownership disclosure. Compliant requests shall not be arbitrarily refused.

Article 54 — Security and finance

Financial proceeds may be pledged or financing security created lawfully with granting-body consent. Security does not entitle financiers to operate without eligibility.

Chapter Five — Allocation and competition procedures

Article 55 — Publicity

Available areas, allocation methods, deadlines, criteria and reasoned outcomes shall be published before grants. Reserved or unpublished areas may be granted only in express statutory cases.

Article 56 — Unknown exploration areas

Areas lacking sufficient economic-deposit evidence may be allocated by compliant application order or simplified competition, with regulations selecting approaches to prevent idle land hoarding.

Article 57 — Known deposits and strategic projects

Areas with sufficient public evidence of significant economic resources or designated strategic status shall be openly competed unless specific published legal grounds justify alternatives.

Article 58 — Tender documents

Documents shall specify resource scope, available data, eligibility, scoring, model rights/contracts, core environmental/social/financial obligations and clarification/objection mechanisms.

Article 59 — Assessment criteria

Awards shall not depend solely on highest upfront payment. Predisclosed weights shall assess technical competence, finance, work programmes, added value, safety, environment, closure, knowledge transfer, schedules and state consideration.

Article 60 — Evaluation committee

Granting bodies shall form multidisciplinary committees, whose members declare conflicts absent, recording scores and reasons for lawful audit.

Article 61 — No secret post-award negotiation

Material award conditions that would have changed the outcome if known shall not be altered after announcement except for emergent technical/legal reasons published with financial effects and competent approval.

Article 62 — Explorer priority

Compliant explorers completing approved expenditure and discovering economic resources shall have priority to apply for mining rights within discoveries, subject to development, environmental and financial conditions, unless original licences stated public-interest exceptions.

Article 63 — Commitment security

Proportionate bid and performance guarantees may be required and forfeited only under specified tender conditions with objection rights, without unjustified barriers to small and medium projects.

Article 64 — Application fees

Application/processing fees shall reflect actual administration, confer no assessment preference and be periodically reviewed in a unified published schedule.

Article 65 — Grant decision

Reasoned grants shall specify right type, area, coordinates, duration, mineral, programme, financial obligations, guarantees, commencement conditions and reference documents.

Article 66 — Post-award disclosure

Grant summaries, contracts/licences and material annexes shall be published within thirty days. Specific technical secrets may be temporarily withheld by reasoned decision, excluding financial consideration, duration, parties, environmental obligations and beneficial ownership.

Article 67 — Allocation objections

Bidders may object administratively within fifteen working days of announcement. A committee functionally independent of evaluators shall decide within a specified period without prejudice to judicial challenge.

Chapter Six — Work programmes, development and production

Article 68 — Exploration programmes

Programmes shall specify surveys, drilling, analyses, schedules, minimum spending, risk/data management and temporary rehabilitation. Nominal spending does not substitute for useful geological work.

Article 69 — Phased relinquishment

Renewals require regulated surrender of inactive portions, reopened competitively after data receipt and rehabilitation verification.

Article 70 — Resource report

Potential discoveries require independent technical reports stating confidence, tests, assumptions and risks. Reports do not authorise mining.

Article 71 — Feasibility study

Final mining licences require studies of mine plans, recovery, processing, infrastructure, costs, finance, markets, risks, closure and economic sensitivity, with reviewable material assumptions.

Article 72 — Mine-development plan

Plans shall cover pits or underground works, extraction sequences, roads, storage/processing sites, water and waste, energy, safety/emergencies and progressive rehabilitation, updated for material changes.

Article 73 — Rational extraction rate

Rates shall optimise economic recovery and avoid excessive high-grading that wastes reasonably recoverable resources, considering market and technology changes.

Article 74 — Measurement and mineral balance

Operators shall measure and reconcile ore, products and waste using approved calibrated scales/instruments and digital records tracing quantities from extraction faces to storage, sale or export.

Article 75 — Trial production

Limited pre-commercial production may test processing or markets where technically necessary and environmentally/financially covered. Ordinary royalties and fees apply unless law provides otherwise.

Article 76 — Commercial commencement

Following readiness, safety, measurement and guarantee checks, investors shall notify commercial commencement, recorded for reporting, rights and obligations.

Article 77 — Production-plan changes

Operators shall report material production, schedule or technology deviations and obtain prior approval where environmental impacts, mine life, recovery or infrastructure materially change.

Article 78 — Temporary suspension

Technical, market or force-majeure pauses require care, maintenance and safety plans, without exemption from environmental, monitoring or accrued financial duties or closure-plan updates.

Article 79 — No idle rights retention

After warning and remedy periods, granting bodies may terminate rights lacking substantial work, funding or lawful justification for licence-specified periods, preventing resource freezing and area speculation.

Article 80 — Processing and manufacturing

Licences may include initial ore separation. Downstream industrial facilities also require industrial, investment, environmental and safety compliance. Mineral rights create no manufacturing monopoly.

Chapter Seven — Land, infrastructure and third-party rights

Article 81 — Separation from land ownership

Mineral rights neither transfer land ownership nor authorise third-party access without agreement or legal basis. Land ownership does not confer subsurface minerals contrary to this Law.

Article 82 — Access agreements

Holders shall seek written landowner/usufruct-holder agreements on access, compensation, temporary use, infrastructure and rehabilitation. Property-affecting agreements shall be registered where legally required.

Article 83 — Compensation

Affected persons receive fair compensation for direct harm, lost benefit and lawful land use through independent challengeable valuation. Compensation does not replace rehabilitation or environmental repair.

Article 84 — Expropriation

Private land shall not be expropriated merely for investors' commercial interests. Expropriation requires statutory procedure, proven public benefit and necessity and no less intrusive alternative.

Article 85 — Roads and transmission lines

Project roads, power/water lines, rail and conveyors require owner and competent-body permissions. Safe, economic infrastructure sharing without third-party harm is encouraged.

Article 86 — Shared corridors

Authorities may organise shared ore, energy or water corridors after capacity, tariff and environmental assessment, without confiscating private assets or imposing uncompensated service.

Article 87 — Prohibited/restricted areas

Regulations based on competent laws shall identify mining restrictions including critical infrastructure, protected areas, antiquities, drinking-water sources and security exclusions, reflected in registries where possible.

Article 88 — Urban areas and expansion

New extraction rights within built-up areas or approved urban expansion plans require technical necessity, planning/environment/local approval and resident-protection conditions.

Article 89 — Cross-boundary projects

Deposits or projects crossing governorate/regional boundaries require coordination on surveys, roads, environment and data. Coordinated rights may be issued rather than assuming automatic transfer of competence to one body.

Article 90 — Public roads and waterways

Operators shall not close public roads, waterways or lawful traditional access without competent approval, suitable alternatives and compensation where due.

Chapter Eight — Environment, water, waste and mine closure

Article 91 — Environmental legislation

All mining activities remain subject to environmental-protection legislation and implementing rules. Granting-authority approval is neither environmental approval nor a substitute for impact assessment.

Article 92 — Environmental and social assessment

Proportionate assessments shall cover alternatives, cumulative effects, water, air, noise, biodiversity, waste, health, communities, closure and major accidents. Summaries and consultation outcomes shall be public.

Article 93 — Environmental baseline

Before impactful works, operators shall document water, soil, air, biodiversity and existing-use baselines sufficient to distinguish prior conditions from project effects. Environmental authorities shall review data quality.

Article 94 — Water

Mineral rights create no independent water entitlement. Projects shall specify requirements, sources, efficiency, recycling and discharge and obtain water-resource and relevant approvals.

Article 95 — Groundwater dewatering

Dewatering requires hydrogeological models, monitoring and well, river and ecosystem impact plans. Water shall be treated or reused before standards-compliant discharge.

Article 96 — Acid and metal pollution

Acid drainage, acid-generating rock and heavy-metal risks shall be assessed from exploration, with material separation where needed and containment, treatment and long-term monitoring.

Article 97 — Tailings dams and facilities

Facilities shall reflect risk and consequence classifications, independent design review, operating/monitoring/emergency plans and periodic reviews. Filling shall not begin before readiness verification.

Article 98 — Waste register

Operators shall record waste quantities, composition, location, stability and associated water, updating risk models throughout mine life and after closure while liability persists.

Article 99 — Progressive rehabilitation

Where feasible, rehabilitation shall accompany mining. Backfilling, land recontouring and remediation of retired sections shall not all wait until final closure.

Article 100 — Closure plans

Preliminary plans accompany mining applications; detailed plans precede operation. Updates at least every five years and on project changes shall address physical/chemical stability, water, land, subsequent uses, costs and monitoring.

Article 101 — Closure financial guarantee

Before extraction, independent adequate guarantees shall cover third-party closure/rehabilitation if operators fail, periodically reassessed against prices and remaining work.

Article 102 — Guarantee forms

Bank guarantees, insurance, escrow or other highly secure regulatory instruments may qualify. The mineral asset or anticipated profits alone are insufficient.

Article 103 — Phased guarantee release

Release requires verified closure/rehabilitation work, retaining appropriate post-closure monitoring amounts until final stability standards are met.

Article 104 — Temporary/early closure

Early cessation requires safe care or early-closure plans and immediate guarantee-cost review. Bankruptcy or disputes shall not leave unstable facilities, pits or waste.

Article 105 — Closure certificate

Certificates follow verified fulfilment and do not waive fraud, latent damage or expressly continuing monitoring duties.

Article 106 — Abandoned mines and quarries

With governorates, regions and Environment, the Ministry shall inventory abandoned/high-risk sites, prioritise safety and pollution remediation and recover costs from legally established responsible parties where possible.

Article 107 — Environmental emergencies

Operators shall immediately report collapse, leakage, serious pollution or potentially off-site incidents and contain, rescue and notify the public under emergency plans without awaiting final liability findings.

Chapter Nine — Safety, health, labour and communities

Article 108 — Safety management

Every mine/quarry shall maintain risk-proportionate health and safety systems covering leadership, critical risks, training, permits, incidents, emergencies, contractors and medical surveillance, meeting at least labour and occupational-law requirements.

Article 109 — Mine manager

Operators shall appoint qualified responsible technical managers for mines or permitted site groups, specifying powers and duties to stop unsafe work.

Article 110 — Refusal of dangerous work

Workers may refuse work reasonably believed to pose serious imminent danger to themselves or others, notifying supervisors, without punishment for good-faith exercise under safety procedures.

Article 111 — Contractors

Licensees remain responsible for site safety/environment despite subcontracting. Contracts do not waive public duties to the state or affected persons.

Article 112 — Explosives and hazardous materials

Purchase, storage, transport and use follow competent security/environmental laws and field-control plans. This Law grants no separate authorisation.

Article 113 — Rescue and emergencies

Mine plans shall specify first aid, rescue, evacuation, communication and responses to fire, collapse, gases and floods, with periodic civil-defence/local exercises.

Article 114 — Incident reporting

Deaths, serious injuries, dangerous incidents and loss of control over major facilities require reporting within specified periods. Evidence shall be retained; major events may receive independent investigation.

Article 115 — Iraqi employment

Qualified Iraqi labour receives priority under labour law and investment policy. Major projects require realistic job/skill-based training and professional replacement plans, without unverifiable licence quotas.

Article 116 — Vocational training

Operators shall train technicians, geologists, engineers, equipment operators and safety personnel. Measurable accredited training may count towards local-development commitments.

Article 117 — Non-discrimination and worker protection

Labour standards apply regardless of public, private or foreign ownership. Discrimination, forced labour and children in prohibited work are banned; protective equipment shall be provided without worker charges.

Article 118 — Affected-community participation

Early continuing consultation shall address roads, water, noise, dust, opportunities and closure, documenting material concerns and responses.

Article 119 — Community grievances

Operators shall provide free, traceable complaints and responses within published periods, without restricting administrative or judicial recourse.

Article 120 — Local-development agreements

Major projects may transparently agree training, services or shared infrastructure connected to legitimate impacts with local authorities and communities. These do not replace taxes, royalties or legal compensation.

Article 121 — Informal payments

Payments or advantages to officials or groups to secure licensing or overlook violations are prohibited. Donations/community contributions require disclosure and accounting, not off-record cash.

Chapter Ten — Revenues, fees and financial transparency

Article 122 — Financial consideration

Depending on right type, obligations include application/administrative fees, annual area rent, production royalties, general taxes/fees and lawful competitive contractual payments. Secret or off-treasury payments are prohibited.

Article 123 — Area rent

Annual exploration area rents shall progressively encourage work or surrender, considering scale and activity for quarries and small projects.

Article 124 — Mineral royalties

Extracted or sold minerals attract royalties under a regulatory schedule distinguishing mineral class, market, processing, value and capital intensity, supported by published economic-impact studies avoiding uninvestable projects or loss of state entitlement.

Article 125 — Royalty basis

Regulations shall specify reference gross value, volume, weight or mixed bases by class, pricing for related-party sales or opaque markets, and prohibition of unauthorised cost deductions.

Article 126 — Reference value

International/regional indices or realised average sales may be used after published quality/transport adjustments. Investors may challenge reference prices through independent technical procedures.

Article 127 — Related-party sales

Sales shall comply with arm's-length, income-tax and transfer-pricing rules. Authorities may require contracts, invoices, quality and destination information to verify royalties.

Article 128 — Treasury payment

Royalties, fees and public revenues shall enter statutory government accounts. Licensing bodies or public companies may retain or directly spend them only with legislative authority and budget appropriation.

Article 129 — Local transfers

Budget- or revenue-law transfers to governorates, regions or development funds shall separately disclose amounts, bases and destinations for audit. This Law creates no unfunded share outside general public finance.

Article 130 — Payment disclosure

Government shall publish receipts by material project and payment type; companies shall publish corresponding payments under extractive-transparency standards, resolving differences and showing reconciliations.

Article 131 — Contract disclosure

Mining contracts, licences, annexes and material amendments shall be published. Only specific trade secrets may be withheld for justified periods, excluding parties, duration, state rights, environmental duties, exemptions, guarantees and beneficial ownership.

Article 132 — Beneficial ownership

Grant, renewal or transfer requires updated beneficial-owner data and verified actual controllers under the competent register. Legally unprotected information shall be public; changes require notice within thirty days.

Article 133 — Financial reports and accounting

Mining licensees shall maintain audited accounts and production, inventory and sales records linked to measurement and reconcilable with tax, customs and royalty declarations.

Article 134 — Audit rights

Competent fiscal and oversight bodies may audit production, contracts, sales and royalty/tax-related costs. Records shall be retained for statutory periods; contractual confidentiality shall not obstruct lawful official audits.

Article 135 — Exemptions and incentives

Contracts shall grant no tax/customs exemption without applicable law. Investment-law incentives shall appear in contracts and public registries with duration and legal basis.

Article 136 — Legal stability

Contracts may address exceptional fiscal changes within law. Stabilisation clauses shall not displace health, safety, environment, integrity or state enforcement of non-discriminatory mandatory rules.

Chapter Eleven — Strategic minerals, added value and trade

Article 137 — Strategic-mineral list

On Ministry proposals and published studies, the Council of Ministers may periodically designate strategic/critical minerals considering industrial, energy, defence and supply-chain security and Iraqi potential, reviewed at least every three years.

Article 138 — Strategic designation effects

Designation alone neither confiscates existing rights nor bans exports. It may strengthen stock, data, competition, security and supply-continuity conditions for new rights under published rules.

Article 139 — Added value

For large deposits, authorities shall compare domestic processing/manufacturing with raw exports and realistically weight added value in tenders without uneconomic facilities or unassessed permanent bans.

Article 140 — No arbitrary localisation

Local-content, manufacturing and technology-transfer duties shall be measurable and proportionate to scale, markets and skills, without supplier monopolies or compelled non-compliant/non-competitive purchases.

Article 141 — Research and development

The Ministry shall encourage university, Geological Survey and specialist-centre research agreements on exploration, processing, waste recovery and reduced water/energy use, specifying intellectual-property and data rights.

Article 142 — Exports

Exports may proceed under trade, customs, tax, environmental and security rules, with permits linking shipments to production/measurement records against smuggling and origin manipulation.

Article 143 — Temporary export restrictions

Quantitative restrictions or bans require legislation or lawfully delegated decisions for specified security, critical-shortage, international-obligation or strategic-resource reasons, assessing impacts, duration and alternatives.

Article 144 — Traceability and origin

High-risk/value products shall be digitally traced from production to sale/export, recording proportionate quantity, quality, origin, rights, carrier and buyer data.

Article 145 — Small mining and local quarries

Regulations shall simplify low-risk small projects and quarries transparently while retaining beneficial-ownership, safety, environment, measurement, fee and area-boundary requirements.

Article 146 — Unknown-origin trading

Processors, major traders and public bodies shall not purchase commercial ores/minerals without lawful-origin evidence. Regulations shall specify category-based verification and records.

Chapter Twelve — Supervision, inspection and compliance

Article 147 — Inspection powers

Authorised inspectors may enter rights sites at reasonable times and inspect operations, records, instruments, samples and safety/environment systems within competence, respecting constitutional safeguards and premises outside activities.

Article 148 — Inspector identity and records

Inspectors shall show identification/authority and electronically record visits, findings, samples, images and measures, providing operators copies. Risk or manipulation suspicions may justify unannounced inspections.

Article 149 — Sampling

Samples shall preserve custody chains, with counterparts for operators where possible. Accredited laboratories shall handle matters creating material financial obligations or sanctions.

Article 150 — Corrective orders

Remediable violations require orders specifying breach, action, deadline and legal basis. Serious risks permit shortened deadlines or suspension.

Article 151 — Stop-work orders

All or part of work may stop immediately for imminent life risks, potentially serious environmental harm, out-of-area extraction or deliberate measurement interference. Decisions shall be written, reasoned and challengeable.

Article 152 — Compliance plans

Timed plans may address non-serious violations where closure is disproportionate and rights, environment or treasury remain safe. Plans do not prevent collection of sums due.

Article 153 — Independent technical audit

Authorities lacking verification capacity may require independent review of resources, tailings dams, serious incidents or closure plans. Cost responsibility shall reflect reasons and findings.

Article 154 — Reporting and whistleblower protection

Channels shall receive unlawful-extraction, corruption, measurement-manipulation and safety reports. Whistleblower data shall enter statutory protection systems; sources may be disclosed only lawfully.

Article 155 — Oversight coordination

Mining, environment, water, tax, customs, audit and integrity bodies shall lawfully exchange necessary data to prevent duplicate inspections and detect evasion, controlling access and protecting data.

Article 156 — Risk indicators

Risk-based supervision shall consider production, mineral type, history, tailings, water, accidents and production/sales gaps without abandoning minimum periodic inspection.

Chapter Thirteen — Violations, sanctions and liability

Article 157 — Proportionality and administrative/criminal separation

Sanctions shall reflect seriousness, gain, harm and repetition. Officials shall exercise no judicial powers or custodial punishment. Courts determine crimes and judicial confiscation constitutionally and lawfully.

Article 158 — Administrative sanctions

After hearing holders, granting bodies may warn, impose fines within statutory/regulatory limits, suspend rights, reduce areas, refuse renewal or revoke rights for serious/repeated violations.

Article 159 — Administrative-fine criteria

Fines shall consider unpaid obligations, economic violation value, repair costs, intent, cooperation and repetition and shall not fall below identifiable direct gains.

Article 160 — Unpaid royalties or missing production data

Late payment or reporting triggers warning, payment demands and lawful interest/additions. Continued refusal may suspend product disposal without prejudice to judicial recovery.

Article 161 — Extraction without rights

Intentional commercial extraction without active rights, after revocation or outside boundaries attracts court-determined punishment proportionate to value and harm and fines of at least three and at most ten times market value, plus rehabilitation and restoration of public entitlements.

Article 162 — Good-faith boundary breaches

Limited accidental surveying breaches promptly self-reported may be addressed administratively through stopping excess operations, collecting dues and rehabilitation, unless accompanied by falsification or continuation after warning.

Article 163 — Falsified measurements or records

Intentional falsification of weights, samples, invoices, destinations or quality to reduce state dues or conceal unlawful extraction shall be punished under the Penal Code and special laws, recovering all sums and damages.

Article 164 — Damage to safety/waste facilities

Deliberate interference with safety facilities, dams, monitoring or treatment causing serious life/environment risks shall be judicially referred, alongside suspension and urgent repair.

Article 165 — Inspector obstruction

Obstructing authorised inspectors, withholding mandatory records or tampering with official samples is prohibited, attracting administrative or criminal sanctions by seriousness and intent.

Article 166 — Legal-person liability

Company liability does not shield managers, staff or contractors who committed, ordered or knowingly failed substantial duties under applicable laws. Legal persons face no custodial penalty.

Article 167 — Parent-company liability

Parent companies/guarantors may be pursued within guarantees or commitments, or where control conceals assets or evades closure/obligations, under judicial rulings and company law.

Article 168 — Confiscation

Equipment, products and proceeds require judicial orders or judgments where law requires, respecting good-faith third parties and less restrictive means sufficient to preserve evidence/public assets.

Article 169 — Remediation-cost recovery

Fines do not replace removal of violations, public-response cost recovery, environmental damages or landowner/affected-person rights.

Article 170 — Limitation and records

Limitation of public claims involving deliberate concealment of production, ownership or damage starts only upon discovery under relevant laws. Retention shall enable audit and oversight.

Chapter Fourteen — Grievances and dispute resolution

Article 171 — Administrative grievances

Applicants or holders may challenge decisions within thirty days of notification unless special laws set shorter periods, reviewed by superior bodies or committees uninvolved originally.

Article 172 — Grievance effects

Grievances do not automatically suspend imminent safety/environment measures. Others may be stayed for serious grounds without substantial public harm.

Article 173 — Judicial challenge

Administrative decisions are challengeable before competent courts. Contracts or arbitration clauses shall not exclude sovereign/administrative legality review where Iraqi judicial jurisdiction is statutory.

Article 174 — Contractual disputes

Arbitrable commercial/contractual disputes may be arbitrated under Iraqi law and applicable treaties, specifying governing law, seat, language and award enforcement.

Article 175 — Sanctions and taxes excluded from arbitration

Arbitration excludes criminal liability, sovereign administrative fines and taxes/royalties assigned by law to particular bodies/courts, except where expressly authorised.

Article 176 — Technical expertise

Courts/administrative bodies may use accredited geology, mining, tailings and valuation experts. Opinions bind judges only under evidence rules.

Chapter Fifteen — Transitional and final provisions

Article 177 — Existing rights

Existing effective mineral rights/contracts continue to expiry on lawful terms, aligning public-order registration, beneficial ownership, measurement, data, safety, closure and guarantee requirements within eighteen months.

Article 178 — Legacy-rights audit

Within twelve months, granting bodies shall inventory rights, quarries, contracts and relinquished areas, reconcile coordinates, periods, payments and competent bodies, and publish findings in the registry.

Article 179 — Pending applications

Applications at final-decision stage may finish under original rules where more favourable without harming public interest. Preliminary applications follow this Law after adaptation periods.

Article 180 — Repeal

Mineral Investment Regulation Law No. (91) of 1988 and amendments are repealed at commencement. Non-conflicting regulations/instructions continue temporarily until replaced, without reviving provisions held unconstitutional or suspended by the Federal Supreme Court.

Article 181 — Old instructions

Within one year, competent bodies shall review quarry/mineral investment, technical and fee instructions, repealing or adjusting conflicts with digitisation, transparency, competence allocation and judicial safeguards.

Article 182 — Required regulations

On Ministry proposals and competent coordination, the Council of Ministers shall regulate classification, royalties, rights, areas, guarantees, disclosure, registration and technical standards within twelve months of publication.

Article 183 — Technical instructions

Ministers/competent bodies may issue instructions within powers, without new taxes, royalties, offences or competences absent legislation.

Article 184 — Registry phases

New rights shall be published electronically from regulatory commencement; existing rights entered within twelve months; map layers and land/environment/water links completed within twenty-four months according to readiness.

Article 185 — Continuing environmental liability

Repeal, transfer, restructuring or privatisation shall not extinguish established pollution, closure or compensation liability, determined by timing, obligations, contracts and applicable laws.

Article 186 — Existing public contracts

Lawful public-company contracts remain unaffected except conflicts with mandatory transparency, safety, environment, competence or public-revenue rules, resolved under the law.

Article 187 — Periodic review

Every three years, the Ministry shall report to the Council of Ministers and Council of Representatives on licensing times, investment, exploration, production, revenues, environment, closure, competition and disputes, proposing amendments where needed.

Article 188 — Publication and commencement

The Law shall be published in the Official Gazette and take effect one hundred and eighty days later, unless specific provisions set other dates for regulations and adaptation.

Explanatory reasons

This Law is proposed to modernise mineral investment/resource management; encourage exploration and responsible private investment; distinguish investment licences and mineral rights; align competences constitutionally; improve surveys and registration; protect environment, water, health and safety; ensure closure/rehabilitation; improve revenues and disclosure of contracts, payments and beneficial ownership; and address constitutional judgments concerning Mineral Investment Regulation Law No. (91) of 1988.

Explanatory memorandum

1. Why replacement rather than partial amendment?

The problem extends beyond one article or outdated fine. Existing structures predate digital cadastres, beneficial ownership, modern waste management, closure guarantees and contemporary competition, while constitutional rulings suspended material provisions. Reconstruction is clearer than amendments preserving an outdated contradictory structure.

2. Why no new independent mining authority?

Iraq already has a ministry, Geological Survey, public companies, investment commissions and environmental, financial and local bodies. The problem is functions, data and conflicting roles rather than missing institutional names. A non-licensing coordination council and shared registry avoid another bureaucratic layer.

3. Why separate mineral rights from investment licences?

Investment legislation provides conditions, incentives and guarantees, but limited public minerals should not pass through general investment approval alone. Investors must know that land or exemptions do not replace technical/financial resource competition or environmental approval.

4. Why no uniform royalty rate?

Construction stone, phosphate, sulphur and high-value minerals differ radically, as do low-grade ores and costly processing. Uniform rates may surrender profitable-resource revenue or close marginal projects. Transparent methods and impact-assessed regulatory schedules shall specify reference prices and calculations.

5. Closure is part of licensing, not a later phase

Major public risks arise when ore is exhausted or operators fail, leaving pits, dams and polluted water. Future promises are insufficient: closure plans and guarantees precede extraction, are periodically revalued and released only against verified work.

6. Public companies

Phosphate, sulphur and other public companies are retained without assuming privatisation or abolition. Public operators should not judge their own licences or exemption from disclosure, environment and safety. Commercial and regulatory functions separate, with common measurement and audit rules.

Harmonisation with existing legislation and institutions

Boundaries with the existing system
Reference or institution	Retained responsibilities	POL-61 additions
Investment Law 13 of 2006	Investment licensing, incentives and guarantees within its scope.	Separates resource rights; investment approval is not a mining licence.
Environmental Protection and Improvement Law 27 of 2009	Environmental approval, supervision and penalties.	Links mining licences to baselines, closure and financial guarantees.
Ministry of Industry and Minerals	Statutory federal policies and functions.	Common standards, registry, reports and clearer regulatory/operational separation.
Geological Survey	Surveys, data and technical analysis.	National data repository and digital layers without comprehensive commercial licensing powers.
Regions and governorates	Constitutional and statutory local powers.	Maps granting bodies and records decisions in a shared registry.
Investment commissions	Statutory investment licences.	Coordination window without merging mineral decisions into general approval.
Public mineral companies	Extraction, manufacturing and marketing under their laws.	Disclosure, measurement, environment and closure requirements like any operator.

Transition and implementation requirements

Initial post-legislation stage
Period	Action
Within 12 months	Inventory rights, contracts and quarries; issue core regulations; update mineral-investment/quarry instructions.
Within 12 months	Register existing rights, coordinates, granting bodies, beneficial owners and legal status.
Within 18 months	Align existing rights with measurement, data, closure, guarantee and disclosure requirements.
Within 24 months	Connect cadastre layers to land, environment, water, antiquities and infrastructure data according to readiness.
Periodically	Update surveys, royalty schedules, strategic-mineral lists and transparency/compliance reports.

Transition needs careful legal management because the Mineral Investment Bill entered Parliament in August 2026. Integrating modern provisions before voting is preferable to parallel laws on the same subject.

Financial and implementation impact

No reliable national implementation cost is possible before inventorying licences, quarries, data, laboratories and maps. Regulatory costs can partly use existing institutions; surveys, digitisation and laboratories require capital; closure costs fall on operators through guarantees rather than the treasury.

Fiscal-impact calculation
Item	Method	Initial funding source
Digital mineral cadastre	Digitised maps/rights, cloud/central infrastructure, security, linkage and maintenance.	Public appropriation and reasonable cost-based service fees, without making registration profit-driven.
Geological surveys	Cost per kilometre/area by survey, flight, analysis and sampling type.	Budgets, cooperation programmes and lawful survey contracts.
Supervision and measurement	Mine/quarry counts × inspection frequency × laboratories and calibration equipment.	Budgets and lawful cost-based oversight fees.
Closure	Third-party remaining-work costs plus contingency and monitoring.	Periodically updated operator guarantees.
Abandoned sites	Inventory and risk classification followed by independent site-specific studies.	Recovery from responsible parties where possible, then priority-based public budgets.

Mining revenues shall not be earmarked outside treasury for ministries or operators. Unified public finance and budget appropriation reduce conflicting incentives. Budgets may support producing authorities or affected communities under published rules after actual revenue materialises.

Relevant international standards

Three common modern principles inform the proposal: staged exploration/mining rights with conditional discoverer priority; closure financial assurance to protect states from abandonment or insolvency; and transparent licences, contracts, payments and beneficial ownership central to EITI standards.

No single foreign model is copied. Iraq's constitutional institutions require federal, regional and governorate cooperation, using international resource-classification, waste and closure standards without importing institutions unsuited to local powers.