Mining activities

Conditions for the obtaining of an authorisation to perform mining activities

The mining authorisation may be issued to a natural person if such person

1. has full legal capacity;
2. is a person of integrity;
3. demonstrates the professional competence of the responsible senior employee to perform the required activity.

If the mining licence is issued to a legal person, the conditions of integrity and professional competence of the responsible senior employee apply to the person who represents, or is a member of, the statutory body.
The mining authorisation may also be issued if the condition of professional competence of the responsible senior employee is fulfilled by such responsible representative of the natural person or legal person who consented to the discharge of this function in writing, has full legal capacity, is a person of integrity and has residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic. In the discharge of his function, the responsible senior employee must be a party to an employment contract or other legal relationship with the holder of mining authorisation and the manner, in which such person acts on behalf of the legal person pursuant to internal regulations of the natural person or under the contract, must be evident.

The mining authorisation may be issued to a Slovak person or foreign person. A Slovak person means a natural person with residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic or a legal person with registered office in the territory of the Slovak Republic. Foreign natural persons must be resident in the territory of the state that is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, whereas foreign legal persons must have their registered office or an organisational unit in the territory of such state (if this condition is not fulfilled, the mining authorisation may be issued if such person’s undertaking or organisational unit is located in the territory of the Slovak Republic).

A person acquires full legal capacity upon attaining the legal age of majority. (The legal age of majority is 18. Prior to attaining this age, a person may attain the legal age of majority by marriage.)
Anyone who has been lawfully convicted of an economic crime, crime against property or other intentional criminal offence, the facts of which relate to the line of business, is not a person of integrity, if such person is not regarded as having no prior convictions.
An attestation of competence of the responsible senior employee will be issued by the district mining office after successfully passing the examination. The purpose of oral exam before an examining board is to verify the professional competence of the responsible senior employee. Professional competence means

a) overview of theoretical knowledge and familiarity with generally binding regulations which govern, in particular:

1. the protection and exploitation of mineral deposits;
2. occupational safety and protection of health, safety of operations, safety of technical equipment and work conditions in carrying out mining activities or activities performed using mining methods;
3. underground fire protection;
4. securing the protected facilities and interests against the impact of mining activities or activities performed using mining methods;
5. use of explosives for blasting and pyrotechnic operations;

b) ability to use knowledge and practical experience to the extent necessary for a professional and safe performance of work duties.

In addition to demonstrating professional competence, the required qualification is also necessary.

Mine manager is responsible for ensuring professional and safe management of mining activities in a mine under construction or in a mine where extraction, processing and refinement of extracted minerals is performed, including the safeguarding and liquidation of underground workings; the manager must have a university education in the relevant field and at least five years of professional experience in the relevant industry.

Quarry manager is responsible for ensuring professional and safe management of mining activities or activities performed using mining methods in a quarry under construction or a quarry where extraction, processing and refinement of extracted minerals is performed, including the safeguarding and liquidation of such a quarry; in a quarry with annual extraction volume of more than 500,000 tonnes, the manager must have a university education in the relevant field and at least five years of professional experience in the relevant industry; in a quarry with annual extraction volume of less than 500,000 tonnes, the manager must have a complete secondary vocational education in the relevant field and at least two years of professional experience in the relevant industry.

Senior employee is responsible for ensuring professional and safe management of mining activities or activities performed using mining methods other than those specified above; the senior employee must have a university education in the relevant field and at least two years of professional experience in the relevant industry or a complete secondary vocational education in the relevant field and at least four years of professional experience in the relevant industry.

Employee responsible for designing facilities, workings and activities that are part of mining activities or activities performed using mining methods or responsible for plans or documentation concerning mining activities or activities performed using mining methods (designer); the employee must have a university education in the relevant field and at least two years of professional experience in the relevant industry, or a complete secondary vocational education in the relevant field and at least four years of professional experience in the relevant industry.

Head of unit, or a competent employee assigned by the organisation to perform duties in the area of occupational safety and health at work, and an employee responsible for managing the removal of severe operational failures (accidents); such employee must have a university education in the relevant field and at least two years of professional experience in the relevant industry, or a complete secondary vocational education in the relevant field and at least four years of professional experience in the relevant industry.

Additional information on the performance of mining activities

A mining activity requiring a mining authorisation means:

1. opening, preparation and extraction of reserved deposits;
2. establishment, safeguarding and liquidation of underground workings and quarries;
3. processing and refinement of minerals extracted;
4. establishment and operation of overburden heaps, spoil tips and tailing dams during activities referred to in a) through c);
5. special interventions into the Earth’s crust 
6. safeguarding and liquidation of old underground workings;
7. providing access to underground workings and old mines for the purposes museums and other purposes, including works aimed at maintaining their safety.

Activities performed using mining methods, which require a mining authorisation, means the extraction of deposits of non-reserved minerals including the processing and refinement of extracted minerals, the safeguarding and liquidation of underground workings and quarries, as well as exploration of non-reserved minerals.

Fees for the issuance of an authorisation to perform mining activities

Issuance of a mining authorisation........................................................................66 €
Issuance of a mining authorisation as a replacement for lost, damaged or stolen mining authorisation..........6.50 €
Statement from the mining register.......................................................3 €
Change in the mining register data........................................................3 €

The fee may be paid:

1. in the form of a stamp tax with the prescribed nominal value, paid to the relevant administrative authority;
2. in the form of a cash payment to the relevant administrative authority;
3. by a postal cheque to the bank account of the relevant administrative authority, or
4. by a wire transfer from a bank account.

Where relevant operations and proceedings are carried out on the basis of an application sent by electronic means and signed with an electronic signature, the fee is reduced to 50% of the amount of the fee prescribed in the schedule of fees (up to €70 at the most).
Note: Applicants may pay the administrative fee using any of the aforementioned methods, but any payments made by electronic means in the form of a wire transfer from a bank account are only deemed paid when debited from the applicant’s account. (A payment confirmation does not have to be annexed to an electronic application for authorisation.)

Application procedure for the obtaining of an authorisation to perform mining activities

In order to obtain a mining authorisation, the application for mining authorisation must be filled in and attached with the following annexes:

Natural persons:

1. an attestation of competence of the responsible senior employee;
2. a consent of the responsible senior employee to the appointment, unless identical with the natural person;  
3. an evidence that the responsible senior employee is an employee of the natural person;
4. a statement from the register of criminal records of the natural person, in the case of legal persons, a statement from the register of criminal records of the person who is a statutory representative or a member of the statutory board, and a statement from the register of criminal records of the responsible senior employee if appointed as responsible representative; if the applicant does not possess the statement from the register of criminal records, data necessary for requesting the statement through an SPC must be provided.

Legal persons:

1. an attestation of competence of the responsible senior employee
2. a written consent of the responsible employee to the appointment, unless identical with the statutory representative or a member of the statutory body of the legal person; 
3. an evidence that the responsible employee is an employee of the legal person;
4. an up-to-date statement from the Business Registry of the natural person.

Applicant can send the application form directly to the competent organ.

Electronic form:

Electronic forms can be found at this link and press "Enter the portal". Information about electronic procedures can be found here.