LEY NÚM. 21.649

MODIFIC PROVISIONS OF THE CODEL OF MINERY; LAW N° 21.420, WHO REDUCE OR ELIMINA TRIBUTARY EXENTIONS THAT INDICAL; AND OTHER

Bearing in mind that the H. National Congress has approved the following

Bill:

"Article 1.- Enter the following modifications in the Law No. 21.420, which reduces or eliminates tax exemptions indicating:

1. In the article 10:

I) Number 1 (ii)

(a) Replace the third subparagraph in the article 21 of Mining Code by the following:

"The mining concessionaire shall issue a report with the geological information obtained from the exploration work carried out in exercise of the rights conferred by the concession, in accordance with the terms and conditions established by this rule and the regulations. In the case of the exploration concessionaire, within thirty days of the expiry of its concession, a report must be forwarded to the Service with all the geological information it has obtained from the exploration work carried out in the area corresponding to that concession. However, if the holder requests to extend his or her concession in the terms set out in article 112, he or she shall be entitled to the provisions of that provision. ".

(b) Amend article 21 of the Mining Code, as follows:

I. Replace the word "all" with the following phrase: "a report with the whole."

ii. Choose the word "geological", the second time it appears.

(c) Amend article 21 of the Mining Code, as follows:

I. Delete the phrase ", as well as the treatment to be given to such information."

ii. Incorporate, after the point and apart, which becomes a point and followed, the following text: "The geological information obtained from advanced exploration work will be of a confidential nature for a period of four years from its delivery to the Service, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the aforementioned regulation."

(d) Replace the sixth subparagraph in article 21 of the Mining Code with the following:

"The concessionaire who does not comply with the submission of the report with the geological information obtained in the form and deadlines set out in this rule and the regulation or rule 112, as appropriate, shall be fined up to 100 tax units per year. However, in the event that the concessionaire does not comply with the report, the Service may require it, for which it will grant the period of sixty days. If it fails to comply with that requirement, the Service shall apply the duplo of the above-mentioned penalty, and shall also be disqualified to access the benefit of a discounted patent regulated by rule 142 bis, if applicable, all in accordance with the procedure set out in the above-mentioned regulation. ".

II) Replace in number 2 the phrase "referred to datum SIRGAS" for "referred to Datum defined in the rules of procedure".

III) Replace in number 3 the phrase "referred to datum SIRGAS" for "referred to the Datum defined in the rules of procedure."

IV) Replace number 11 with the following:

"11. Replace the article 112 by the following:

Article 112. The concession of exploration shall be for a period of four years, counted from the date of the judgement which declares it constituted.

However, prior to its expiration, the holder may request, for one time, his extension for another period of up to four years, from the end of the first. In order to exercise this right, within the first six months of the last year of its concession, the holder shall submit to the Service a report with all the geological information obtained in the exploration work that has been carried out during the validity of its concession and which, therefore, proves its realization. Alternatively, the holder may submit to the Service the documentation that credits obtaining an Environmental Qualification Resolution regarding his mining project during the period of the concession, or the admission to the process of his exploration project in the Environmental Impact Assessment System.

Pursuant to the above, the Service shall issue a certificate to give account of that, which shall be referred to the competent court of letters, once it has been offered by the Service for such purposes.

The resolution granting the extension shall be issued, for one time, within thirty days from the date of its issuance. The extract will contain the U.T.M. coordinates of the concession vertices. Within the same time period, the resolution must be noted outside the respective registration. ".

V) In number 12:

(a) Replace the first subparagraph of article 112 bis incorporated in the Mining Code:

"Article 112 bis.- From the presentation of the pediment and to the end of a year counted from the extinction of the concession of exploration, whatever its cause, the holder may not acquire, by himself or by interposite person, a new concession of exploration that includes, in whole or in part, the area covered by such concession of exploration."

(b) Add the following subsections, fourth, fifth and sixth, to article 112 bis:

"The concessionaire whose contravention was declared by the competent court shall lose any preference to constitute a property on the surface that covers the granting of exploration referred to in paragraph 1 above.

A complainant who has obtained a favourable sentence in the proceedings referred to in the preceding paragraphs may submit a request covering all or part of the field covered by the petition complained in which case the date of submission of the latter request will apply. In order to enforce this right, the request shall be submitted within ninety days of the date on which the favourable judgement is final, shall expressly state that it is carried out in exercise of the provisions of this article, and shall accompany the authorised copy of the favourable judgment and the certificate provided for in article 47 concerning the complaint.

For its part, the report to be submitted by the Service in the procedure for the establishment of the concession shall, in addition to the provisions of article 57, indicate whether the area of the concession is in compliance with the provisions of the preceding subparagraph. ".

VI) Replace number 16 with the following:

16. Incorporate, following article 142, the following article 142 bis, new:

"Article 142 bis.- The determination of the amount of the annual patent indicated in article 142, paragraph 1, shall be governed by the rules set out in this article.

For the concession of exploration, the amount of the patent for each full hectare will be equivalent to three fiftieths of monthly tax unit for each year of the concession.

With respect to the concessions of exploitation, the amount of the annual patent will be a tenth of a monthly tax unit per full hectare that it understands, in view of the fact that the objective of its granting is the development of the activity necessary to satisfy the public interest that justifies it, understood by such the realization of mining tasks. For this purpose, the concessionaire must certify annually that he has initiated works, activities or works that permanently and continuously permit the development of mining operations, being understood by those referred to in article 3 (l) of the Act No. 20.551, which regulates the closure of mining facilities and facilities, including those resulting from the implementation of a plan to close mining activities. Consideration of such operations shall be applied irrespective of whether they are exercised in their own or leased belongings.

The same amount referred to in the preceding paragraph shall apply to those belongings in some of the following situations:

(a) Those who have not initiated mining operations are covered by a mining development project that has obtained an Environmental Qualification Resolution or has been admitted to the Environmental Impact Assessment System for qualification under Act No. 19,300 on General Environmental Bases.

(b) Those covered in a project that, without having to enter the system indicated in the previous letter, have in process any of the permits established in Title XV of the Supreme Decree No. 132 of 2002, of the Ministry of Mining, which approves Regulation of Mining Security. The patent may be determined only for one time.

The belongings to which this amount of the patent is applied will be those included in a productive mining unit and its possible expansions, according to the information that the concessionaire gives to the Service. It will be enough that one of the belongings of the same owner, included in the same record of messure, is found in one of the hypotheses set out in the preceding paragraphs, so that it is presumed to be entitled to all the belongings in such a condition.

Owners of the property will be responsible for providing the Service with all necessary backgrounds to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for accessing annually to the amount of patent set out in paragraph 3 above.

For those concessions of exploitation that are not in the hypothesis set out in the preceding paragraphs, the amount of the patent for each full hectare shall be equivalent to:

(a) Four tenths of a monthly tax unit for the first five years of the concession.

(b) Eight tenths of a monthly tax unit from the sixth to tenth year of the concession.

(c) Nine tenths of a monthly tax unit from the eleventh year to the tenth fifth year of the concession.

(d) One comma two monthly tax units from the sixth to the twentieth year of the concession.

(e) Three monthly tax units since the first year of the twenty-fifth year of the concession.

(f) Six monthly tax units from the year twenty-sixth to the thirtieth year of the concession.

(g) Twelve monthly tax units from the thirty-first year of the concession.

The regulation shall regulate the form, requirements, conditions, timelines and formalities to be fulfilled by the holder in order for the Service to recognize compliance with the requirements for accessing the amount of the patent set out in the third paragraph. ".

VII) Delete in number 17 the fourth paragraph added to the article 143 of the Mining Code.

2. Replace the article 10 by the following:

"Article 10... The provisions set out in article 10 shall enter into force on 1 January 2024, and all the time limits established in that article shall be considered on this date. However, the provisions contained in numerals 5, 6, 7, 9, 13 and 14 of that article shall enter into force on the same date as the regulatory rule issued for the purpose of modifying the reference Datum of the respective U.T.M coordinates.

For the payment of the mining patent for the first year of this law, in the terms of the new article 142 bis incorporated by article 10, number 16, the mining concessionaires shall, for one time, pay the amount applicable to the discounted patent referred to in paragraph 4 of that article.

With regard to the concessions of exploration that expire during the year 2024 and whose holders wish to exercise the right enshrined in article 112, they shall be extended until 31 December 2024, so that they may exercise that right, for which they shall present the necessary background to meet the requirements of that article within the first six months of the year 2024.

With regard to the procedures for the establishment of mining concessions that are in process at the date of entry into force of this law, they will continue to be governed by the existing provisions at the time of their initiation. ".

3. Delete. article 11.

4. Delete. article tenth transitory third.

Article 2.- Enter the following modifications Mining Code:

1. Delete the second subparagraph article 45.

2. Replace in paragraph 2 article 71 the phrase ", for each Region, the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the National Director of the Service", by the following: "The Service, by resolution, after approval of the Ministry of Mining".

3. Incorporate into the article 94the following third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh subparagraphs:

"Initiated by a mining concessionaire a summary possessory trial referred to in Title IV of the Third Book of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge may provisionally decree the suspension or discontinuation of the works carried out in the shallow pred superimposed to the mining concession, provided that the concessionaire, in addition to fulfilling the provisions of the preceding subparagraph, accompanies a serious and impending danger that does not justify. Parallel measures may always be lifted by the court in the event that the circumstances that give rise to it disappear.

In the event that the judge decrees the paralyzation of the works, the holder of the works may terminate its effects, provided that he assigns sufficient caution in the current account of the court, which allows to respond to his demolition or the compensation of the damages that, if they continue with such works, may affect the actor, there is a firm judgment. For this purpose, in the resolution ordering the discontinuation of the works, the judge must set the amount of the above-mentioned caption. The suspension of the effects of the order for the discontinuation of works shall take place from the time that the amount of such caption is allocated in the court.

Any matter that arises on the basis of the fixing of the amount of the caption shall be treated as an incident, which shall not affect the suspension of the order of paralyzation of the works, if the owner of the project has appropriated the caption initially fixed by the judge. In the event that the report of experts is requested in the handling of the incident, the costs and fees arising therein shall be borne by the concession holder or permission. The expert shall be appointed by the competent judge. However, if the plaintiff has been defeated in the trial, he shall be sentenced to payment of the specified fee, without prejudice to the payment of the other costs to which he may be sentenced under the general rules.

In the event that the amount of the caption is determined to be greater than the initially fixed, the concessionaire must make the difference in the court within fifteen working days, subject to the suspension of the paralyzation order. In the event that the amount of the detention to be determined is less than the amount initially fixed by the court, the judge shall make available to the concessionaire the surplus, where appropriate, within three days of the respective resolution.

However, for the case in which the possessory judgment is initiated against the mining concessionaire, the judge shall have the same powers as mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, in relation to the works that he carries out under his mining concession, provided that the actor warrants the serious and imminent danger of the failure to grant the suspension or paralization of the requested works. ".

4. Incorporate the following article 142 ter:

"Article 142 ter. The holder of one or more mining belongings whose total extension is not more than 500 hectares and that develops works within the area of at least one concession, under any of the hypotheses established to access the amount of the patent established in the third and fourth subparagraphs of the previous article, will pay a patent whose amount will be of a tenth monthly tax unit for each full hectare.

For these purposes, it will be sufficient for the holder to prove to be in one of the hypotheses of the preceding article for a single time, so that it is presumed to maintain such a situation for a period of five years.

In order to access this benefit, the holder may be a natural person, a legal mining company, a mining cooperative or an individual company of limited liability, and must prove that he is up to date in the payment of the patent of his concessions.

In the case of the legal persons mentioned in the preceding paragraph, for the 500-hectare limit set out in this article, the belongings of which the natural persons possessing of those persons shall be computed. Also, for both natural persons and for the holders of individual enterprises of limited liability, the belongings of which their relatives are owned by consanguinity up to the third degree or by affinity up to the second grade will be computed.

If the beneficiary fails to meet any of the requirements set out in this article, he or she will lose the benefit, and the provisions of article 142 bis shall apply with respect to the payment of the patent to be made in the month of March of the following year. ".

5. Incorporate into the second subparagraph article 144, following the point and apart, which becomes point and followed, the following text: "For these purposes and until the first year of validity of the membership, the amount applicable to the patent shall be set in the fourth paragraph of Article 142 bis."

6. Incorporate into the article 238 the next final paragraph, new:

"However, the publications to be made by the Service may be made entirely on its institutional website."

7. Replace the final subparagraph article 241 by the following:

"The record shall be considered the copies that the preservatives must send to the Service, in accordance with the provisions of Article 106, and what is resolved in the procedure established in the following article."

8. Incorporate, following article 241, the following article 241 bis:

"Article 241 bis.- Whenever the coordinate system of mining concessions is amended in the regulations of this Code, for the purposes of unification, the following procedure shall be followed:

1. The Service will provide the new coordinates of each existing mining concession. For this purpose, the Service shall publish in the form and opportunity to determine the rules of procedure, the new coordinates of the already constituted concessions. In the event that an existing mining concession holder is not included in the publication or has technical objections to the coordinates provided, whether in respect of its concession or others affecting its own, he may claim to the Service on a substantial basis within the period of ninety working days from the previously mentioned publication. In the event of no objection, you may accept the coordinates delivered by the Service.

2. After the time limit set out in the preceding number has not been submitted a claim or objection, the coordinates provided as accepted for all legal purposes shall be understood.

3. Once the claim referred to in this rule is filed, the Service shall publish it in the manner determined by the rules of procedure, so that any affected holder may object. Such opposition shall be filed within thirty days of the issuance of the claim.

4. The claim and any opposition referred to in this article will be resolved within sixty working days. However, the Director of the Service may, by resolution established, extend that period for one time in thirty additional working days. Against the resolution of the Service may be claimed within fifteen working days of notification, which must be handled in accordance with the procedure set out in article 235 of the Mining Code. In contravention of the Service ' s resolution, a judicial claim may be made within thirty working days of notification. The complaint shall be brought before the judge competent under article 231, first or second, and shall be dealt with in accordance with article 235. This trial shall be held as a defendant to the Service and to the claimant or opponent, if any.

5. The coordinates established in accordance with the above numbers shall be registered in the National Register of Mining Concessions and shall become final, and shall determine, for all legal purposes, the location of the respective belongings. ".

Article 3.- Intercálase en el article 17 of the Law No. 18.097, constitutional organic on Mining Concessions, between the "four years" and the point and comma, the following phrase: "the one that can be extended for one time, according to the provisions of articles 112 and 112 bis of the Mining Code".

Article 4.- Delete number 16 Article 2 of Decree-Law No. 3.525 of 1980that creates the National Service of Geology and Mining.

Transitional arrangements

Having complied with the provisions of Article 93, paragraph 1, of the Constitution of the Republic, and since I have had the right to adopt and punish it, therefore, to promute and take effect as the Law of the Republic.

Santiago, December 29, 2023.- GABRIEL BORIC FONT, President of the Republic.- Aurora Williams Baussa, Minister of Mining.- Javiera Martínez Fariña, Minister of Finance (S).

What I write to you for your knowledge.- Say hello, Suina Chahuán Kim, Undersecretary of Mining.

Constitutional Court

Draft amending the provisions of the Mining Code; Act No. 21.420, which reduces or eliminates tax exemptions that it indicates; the constitutional organic law of Mining Concessions; Act No. 18,097 and Decree-Law No. 3.525 of 1980, which creates the National Geology and Mining Service, corresponding to Bulletin No. 15510-18

The Secretary of the Constitutional Court, who subscribes, certifies that the Honorable Chamber of Deputies and Deputies sent the bill set forth in the heading, approved by the National Congress, in order that this Court exercise the preventive control of constitutionality in respect of its article 3; and by a judgement of 28 December 2023, in Rol No. 15.041-23-CPR.

It is solved:

1 That the following provisions of the bill referred by the National Congress are in accordance with the Constitutional Organic Law and are in conformity with the Constitution of the Republic:

(a) Article 1 (1), No. IV, replacing article 10, paragraph 11, of Act No. 21.420, replacing article 112, in paragraphs 1 and 2;

(b) Article 1 (1), No. V, (a) replacing article 112 bis, first paragraph, incorporated in the Mining Code;

(c) Article 3, and

(d) Article 1 transient.

2 That this Court does not issue a ruling, in a preventive review of constitutionality, with respect to the remaining provisions of the bill not to deal with matters specific to the Constitutional Organic Law.

Santiago, December 28, 2023.- María Angélica Barriga Meza, Secretary, Constitutional Court.