Rwanda Mining & Mineral Extraction Law: 15 Questions Answered
Mining and quarrying in Rwanda carry their own licensing, traceability and tax regime on top of ordinary company law. These answers cover exploration and mining licences, who owns the minerals, 3T traceability and conflict-minerals compliance, mineral tax and royalties, and the environmental and safety duties that come with a licence.
Re-checked against official Rwandan sources every month · Reviewed
What law governs mining and quarrying in Rwanda?
Mining and quarry operations are governed by Law N° 072/2024 of 26/06/2024 on Mining and Quarry Operations, which repealed the earlier Law N° 58/2018. A separate statute, Law N° 056/2024 of 26/06/2024, establishes a specific tax on minerals. Both are administered by the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), created under Presidential Order N° 028/01 of 18/05/2023, alongside supporting presidential and ministerial orders and RMB regulations that remain in force where they don't conflict with the 2024 law.
Who owns Rwanda's mineral resources — the state or the landowner?
Article 4 of the 2024 Mining Law vests ownership and control of all minerals and quarry products in the State, regardless of who owns or occupies the land above them — a position Article 43 of the Land Law (Law N° 27/2021) confirms from the land side. If a mineral deposit is discovered on privately held land, the licence holder must fairly compensate the landowner or lawful occupier under Rwanda's expropriation law, and the affected land is then registered to the State. Owning land in Rwanda is therefore never itself a mining right.
What types of mining and quarrying licences exist?
RMB grants an exploration licence, a large-scale mining licence, a mineral trading licence and a mineral processing licence for mining proper, plus industrial, commercial small-scale and non-commercial quarry licences for quarry products. Each licence type carries its own application requirements, area limits and reporting duties, and a project typically needs to move from an exploration licence to a mining licence once a viable deposit is confirmed, rather than combining exploration and extraction rights in one licence.
How do I apply for an exploration licence, and how long does it last?
Applications go through RMB's One Stop Centre and are assessed by a specialised committee, with licence-area availability checked first against RMB's Geological Information and Mining Cadastre System to confirm the ground isn't already covered by an existing licence. Under Articles 13 and 14 of the 2024 Mining Law, an exploration licence runs for an initial period of up to four years and can be renewed once for a further period of up to four years, after which a viable project should convert to a mining licence.
Can foreigners or foreign companies hold mining licences in Rwanda?
Yes — Rwandan law imposes no general restriction on foreign ownership of a mining or quarrying licence, and mineral exploration is listed as a priority sector under the Investment Code, which favours foreign as well as domestic investment. There is no mandatory local partner or government joint venture requirement, though the 2024 Mining Law allows the government to acquire shares in a mining or quarry operation on terms agreed with the licence holder — a structure used in practice, for example, in the LuNa Smelter tin-smelting joint venture in Kigali between a foreign and a Rwandan state-owned partner.
What taxes and royalties apply to mining and mineral production?
On top of ordinary corporate income tax, Law N° 056/2024 imposes a specific tax on minerals, and a local mineral processing facility or exporter is required to withhold the mining royalty, declare it and remit it to the tax administration. Export tax must also be declared and paid before minerals physically leave Rwanda. Because these obligations sit alongside standard filing deadlines with the Rwanda Revenue Authority, align your licence reporting, export documentation and tax filings from the start rather than treating them as separate processes.
Are there tax incentives for mineral exploration and export?
Yes, with an important carve-out. The Investment Code lets a registered investor holding an exploration licence carry forward losses for ten years where exploration makes up at least half of total expenditure — a meaningful benefit given how long exploration can run before a mine produces revenue. However, the general incentive available to exporters under the Investment Code does not apply to unprocessed minerals, so a project that only extracts and exports raw ore misses out on that relief; processing or smelting in Rwanda before export changes the tax picture.
What is the 3T mineral traceability and certification system, and does my business need to comply?
Tin, tantalum and tungsten — collectively the “3T” minerals — are tracked bag-by-bag from the mine site under the ITSCI traceability programme, which RMB runs jointly with iTSCi across Rwanda, Burundi, the DRC and Uganda, applying the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals. Rwanda also implements the Regional Certification Mechanism for chain-of-custody tracking. If your operation produces, processes or trades in 3T minerals, expect RMB site inspections, bag-tagging at source and chain-of-custody documentation as a standard condition of the licence, not an optional add-on.
Do conflict-minerals rules like Dodd-Frank affect exporting from Rwanda?
They can, indirectly. Section 1502 of the US Dodd-Frank Act requires companies listed on US stock exchanges to disclose whether their 3T minerals or gold originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country — which includes Rwanda — and, if so, to report on conflict-free sourcing. Rwanda's ITSCI traceability and OECD-aligned due diligence are largely designed to let Rwandan-origin minerals be documented as conflict-free for this purpose, so a buyer subject to Dodd-Frank will typically expect your traceability paperwork as part of the commercial relationship, even though the disclosure duty itself falls on the buyer rather than the Rwandan exporter.
What environmental approvals and obligations apply to a mining project?
Larger mining and quarrying projects need environmental clearance from the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) as part of the environmental impact assessment that also feeds into RDB's investment-registration file. Licence conditions typically layer rehabilitation and community obligations on top of the environmental clearance itself, and RMB can inspect and enforce against both throughout the life of the licence, not only when it's first granted — so budget for ongoing compliance, not a one-off approval.
What health and safety duties does a licence holder have?
Article 42 of the 2024 Mining Law requires licence holders to protect the health and safety of workers engaged in mining and quarry operations, and RMB has published its own Mining Safety Standards setting more detailed operational requirements for underground and open-pit sites. These sit alongside Rwanda's general occupational health and safety framework for employers. Given the physical risks inherent in mining, safety compliance is treated as a core licensing condition that RMB inspects, rather than a matter left entirely to internal company policy.
Can the government take a stake in my mining or quarrying operation?
There is no mandatory government participation requirement — the 2024 Mining Law does not force a licence holder to accept the state as a shareholder. It does, however, allow the government to acquire shares in a mining or quarry operation on terms agreed between the licence holder and the government, and in practice this has happened in a small number of cases, such as the state-owned Ngali Holdings' stake in the LuNa Smelter joint venture. Treat this as a negotiated possibility for larger or strategic projects rather than a standard licensing condition.
What happens if minerals are found on land I own, or on land someone else owns that I want to mine?
Because Article 4 vests mineral ownership in the State, discovering minerals on your own land doesn't give you an automatic right to mine them — you still need the relevant RMB licence, and land ownership and mining rights are diligenced and held separately. If your licensed operations affect land you don't own, the landowner or lawful occupier is entitled to fair compensation under Rwanda's expropriation law before the affected area is registered to the State. Either way, don't assume a land transaction alone settles the mineral question.
Is there a formal route for artisanal or small-scale miners?
Yes — the quarry-licence categories include a commercial small-scale tier alongside the industrial and non-commercial ones, and RMB's licensing and traceability systems, including ITSCI, are designed to bring artisanal and small-scale mineral production into the same formal, documented chain of custody as larger operations rather than treating it as a separate informal sector. Given the safety and traceability expectations attached to any licence, a small-scale operator should still expect RMB registration, inspection and reporting duties, scaled to the size of the operation.
Where can I check licence area availability and get advice on a mining investment?
RMB's Geological Information and Mining Cadastre System is the authoritative source for checking whether a prospective licence area is already held, and RMB's One Stop Centre is the starting point for a new application. Because mining sits on top of ordinary company, tax and land law, and carries its own licensing and traceability regime, get advice from a licensed Rwandan advocate with natural-resources experience — the Be Rwanda Wise Find a Lawyer directory lists independent advocates by specialty, including mining, as a starting point for finding one.
This page gives legal and tax information, not legal advice. Rates, thresholds and procedures change; the answers are re-checked against official sources every month, but you should confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed Rwandan advocate before you act.