Key Issues in Mining Policy: a Brief Comparative Survey on the Reform of Mining Law

Abstract

The reform of Mining Law in a country is the culmination of a process that follows fundamental changes in economic development policy. Mining Law reform is also a principal instrument of revitalising a mining industry. This article uses the experience of three countries—Chile, Ghana and Indonesia—to highlight how a country could use modern mineral investment law to revitalise a hitherto state-owned and stagnating mining industry. It also provides valuable insights into the factors that policy-makers should consider when attempting to attract foreign mining investment in the contemporary era characterised by intense international competition for foreign investment. However, it is important to note that the resulting laws of a mineral reform process in a particular country can only be understood in the context of its own circumstances.