The Norwegian Directorate of Mining with the Commissioner of Mines at Svalbard ( no, Bergvesenet med Bergmesteren for Svalbard) is a Norwegian
government agency
A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...
responsible for administrating the
extraction of mineral resources within the kingdom. The directorate is subordinate to the
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and M ...
and co-located with the
Norwegian Geological Survey
Geological Survey of Norway ( no, Norges geologiske undersøkelse), abbreviation: ''NGU'', is a Norwegian government agency responsible for geologic mapping and research. The agency is located in Trondheim with an office in Tromsø, with about 2 ...
in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
, with a separate office in
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...
.
A total of 18 employees see to the administration of
mining legislation
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic vi ...
, registering
claims
Claim may refer to:
* Claim (legal)
* Claim of Right Act 1689
* Claims-based identity
* Claim (philosophy)
* Land claim
* A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law
* Patent claim
* The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton
* A righ ...
, approving mine plans and supervising the
extractive industry
Extractivism is the process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market. It exists in an economy that depends primarily on the extraction or removal of natural resources that are considered valuable for exportation w ...
. It is also the supervisory authority concerning
environmental impact assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
for planned extraction.
History
The directorate was created in 1986 when the five mining authority districts were merged into one agency. This process was concluded in 1994. From 2003 the Commission er Mines at Svalbard was merged into the directorate.
References
Government agencies of Norway
Mining law and governance
Mining in Norway
Politics of Svalbard
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