1Find Out What You Need
Not a licence in general - the specific title level for the tonnage you actually intend, in your own country. The table below names it and says who may hold it.
Twelve Countries
The Third Door
You Are Holding It and You Have No Papers.
This is where most people in this trade actually start. The board cannot help you yet, and here is exactly why, and what to do about it.
Why the Board Cannot Introduce You
The whole value of this board to a licensed buyer is that every seller it introduces holds the paper for what they are selling. One unlicensed introduction and the buyers stop coming, and then the board is worth nothing to anybody, including the holders who did get licensed.
So the answer is no, and it stays no while you have no papers. Nobody who tells you otherwise is doing you a favour - they are putting the exposure on you, because in every one of these twelve countries it is the person holding and selling without a permit who carries it, not the person who introduced them.
That is the honest position. Now the useful part.
Three Steps
What To Do Instead
1
2Read Module 13 Before You Go
Formalisation costs money and time, and it is worth doing the arithmetic on what you clear each way before you start, rather than after.
3Go to the Office Properly
Module 1 teaches the etiquette, and it is not a soft skill. A complete application handed over courteously moves; an angry one with a page missing does not.
The Route
Where to Knock, in Each of the Twelve
The lowest title level the record names in each country, and the office that issues it.
| Country | The Level to Ask For | Who to Ask | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Botswana | Minerals permit A person conducting small-scale mining. Precious stones are excluded. | Ministry of Minerals and Energy | The record |
| South Africa | Retention permit Holder of a prospecting right. | Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) | The record |
| Zimbabwe | Registered mining location (block or claim) Holder of a prospecting licence. | Ministry of Mines and Mining Development | The record |
| Zambia | Small-scale exploration licence Could not be confirmed. | Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development; licensing sits with the Minerals Regulation Commission | The record |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Permis de recherches (exploration permit) Legal persons only. Foreign persons are eligible but must act through an authorised mandataire en mines et carrieres and elect domicile in the DRC. | Ministere des Mines | The record |
| Tanzania | Prospecting licence Individuals and companies, no citizenship bar. A holder of twenty or more valid prospecting licences cannot be granted another unless the combined area is 2,000 km2 or less. | Ministry of Minerals (Wizara ya Madini) | The record |
| Eswatini | Prospecting permit A Swazi citizen, or a body corporate in which citizens hold a simple majority of the beneficial ownership. | Mining Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy | The record |
| Lesotho | Mineral permit Individuals only - a company shall not hold a mineral permit - and restricted to Basotho. Cannot be transferred or encumbered. | Ministry of Natural Resources; the Commissioner of Mines sits within it, supported by the Mining Board | The record |
| Namibia | Mining claim Namibian citizens, or companies whose articles restrict shareholding to Namibian citizens or similarly qualifying companies. Only a non-exclusive prospecting licence holder may peg one. | Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy (MIME) | The record |
| Angola | Titulo mineiro de prospeccao State-owned, mixed and private companies may all apply, on demonstrated technical and financial capacity. | Ministerio dos Recursos Minerais, Petroleo e Gas (MIREMPET) | The record |
| Mozambique | Licenca de Prospeccao e Pesquisa A legal person constituted and registered in Mozambique with technical and financial capacity. | Ministerio dos Recursos Minerais e Energia (MIREME) | The record |
| Malawi | Small-scale mining licence Malawian citizens only. | Ministry of Mining; licensing is administered by the Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (MMRA) | The record |
No country matches that. The Government page lists all twelve.
Each of these is taken from the dated jurisdiction record, which cites its primary sources and marks anything it could not confirm as unconfirmed. Mining law in this region changes, so check the position yourself before you commit money.
Come Back When You Have It
The day you hold a permit, the first door on this board opens and nothing else about you has to change. The declaration takes about a minute and you stay anonymous on it.