Differentiating Burden of Mine Damage Prevention Costs...Lowering for Small Businesses, Increasing for Large Corporations

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The costs that must be mandatorily borne to prevent damage from mine development will decrease for small enterprises and increase for large enterprises.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the "Act on the Prevention and Restoration of Mine Damage (Mine Damage Prevention Act)," which differentiates the costs borne by mining companies according to company size among mine damage prevention costs, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 4th. The amended enforcement decree will take effect immediately after promulgation.

With this amendment, the rate of mine damage prevention costs imposed will be applied differently according to company size, considering the financial conditions of mining companies and the scale of mine development. Specifically, the rate for small enterprises will be lowered from 30% to 20%, medium enterprises will maintain the current 30%, and large, medium-large, and public enterprises will increase from 30% to 40%. Previously, 30% of the mine damage prevention project costs were uniformly imposed on mining companies, but going forward, the intention is to reflect that the larger the scale of mine development, the greater the scale and frequency of mine damage occurrence.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "By reducing the burden of mine damage prevention project costs on small enterprises in the mining sector and expanding government support, we can induce the soundness of mine damage prevention projects. For large, medium-large, and public enterprises operating large mines, we intend to strengthen responsibility for mine damage prevention by increasing the burden of mine damage prevention project costs and reducing government support."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.