App. D— Ocean Mining Laws of Other Countries • 313 



Activities 



Only sand and gravel, and mostly the former, is cur- 

 rently being extracted. No other economic minerals are 

 expected to be found in Dutch waters. Few companies 

 are involved and not much expanded activity in the fu- 

 ture is anticipated unless land mining becomes very re- 

 stricted. 



Sand is extracted either from areas where it is natu- 

 rally abundant or from shallow channels in the North 

 Sea which need to be dredged anyway to allow large 

 ships through (e.g., on the approach to Amsterdam). 

 Activity takes place fairly close to shore because of trans- 

 port requirements. 



Norway 



Laws 



• Territorial sea and continental shelf: Norway 

 passed, on June 21, 1963, Act No. 12, relating to 

 Scientific Research and Exploration for and Exploi- 

 tation of Subsea Natural Resources other than Pe- 

 troleum Resources. On June 12, 1970, a Royal De- 

 cree was issued, setting provisional Rules for the 

 Exploration for Certain Submarine Natural Re- 

 sources other than Petroleum. 



• Norway declared an Exclusive Economic Zone on 

 December 17, 1976.'^'' 



Jurisdiction 



Under the Act of June 21, 1963, the King has the 

 authority to issue exploration and exploitation permits 

 and make regulations, in regard to both territorial seas 

 and the continental shelf. ^' 



Permit Process 



Unknown 



Terms 



• Exploration: The Ministry of Industry may grant 

 two year licenses for exploration of certain subma- 

 rine natural resources. An application must include 

 a description of the method of proposed explora- 

 tion. The license does not give exclusive rights or 

 guarantee exploitation rights. ^^ 



''"Act of Dec. 17, 1976, Economic Zone of Norway. 



'''Act No. 12, June 21, 1963, Scientific Research and Exploration for and 

 Exploitation of Subsea Natural Resources other than Petroleum Resources. 



^^Royal Decree, June 12, 1970, provisional Rules concerning Exploration 

 for Certain Submarine Natural Resources other than Petroleum in the Nor- 

 wegian Continental Shelf, etc. 



Conditions 



Exploration: Activities must avoid disturbing ship- 

 ping, fishing, aviation, marine fauna or flora, subma- 

 rine cables, etc.^^ 



Thailand 



Laws 



• Thailand has a 12-mile territorial sea." 



• Thailand has declared a continental shelf. ^^ 



• Thailand has not declared an EEZ.*"^ 



• Offshore mining is governed by the Minerals Act 

 B.E. 2510, 1967, as amended by the Minerals Act 

 No. 2, 1973 and the Minerals Act No. 3, 1979. 

 This act also covers onshore mining.^' 



Jurisdiction 



The government has exclusive ownership of all min- 

 erals "upon, in or under the surface of public domain 

 and privately owned land." The Minerals Act is admin- 

 istered by the Department of Mineral Resources within 

 the Ministry of Industry.''^ 



Permit Process 



Unknown for both exploration and exploitation 



Terms 



• Exploration: There are three types of permits: 



1 . The local District Mineral Resources Officer, on 

 behalf of the central government, can issue a 

 one-year nonrenewable prospecting license for 

 a prescribed fee. The mineral of interest and the 

 area to be prospected must be specified. 



2. Exclusive Prospecting Licenses are granted by 

 the Minister of Industry, although applications 

 are filed with the District Officer. The license 

 is usually valid for 1 year, but for no more than 

 2. It is exclusive and non-transferable. The max- 

 imum permit area is 500,000 rai (1 rai is about 

 2/5 acre). 



"Ibid. 



"Law of the Sea Bulletin, 1983, op. cit., p. 82. 



"Ibid. 



"Ibid., p. 63. 



"C-U. Ruangsuvan (Department of Mineral Resources, Ministry 

 of Industry, Thailand), "The Development of Offshore Mineral Re- 

 sources in Thailand," in International Symposium on the New Law 

 of the Sea in Southeast Asia, D. Johnston (ed.) (Dalhousie Ocean 

 Studies Programme: 1983), pp. 83-87. 



«»Ibid. 



72-672 



37 — 11 



