Mineral and petroleum resources royalty act: The impact on the fiscal and mining industry in South Africa.

摘要

The implementation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act was anticipated to have a significant impact on the South African economy and mining industry. The mineral royalty is an effective instrument in the collection of compensation for extraction of mineral resources that cannot be renewed. An overview of the development, evolution and application of the mineral royalty indicated that the newly enacted Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act has constituted a more formal regulative system in determining the royalty amount payable. Various fundamental principles have been established in the act, such as distinguishing between refined and unrefined mineral resources, different royalty formulae to be applied to each of mineral resources and circumstances resulting in a mineral royalty obligation. The South African mining industry has been a cornerstone in forming the economy for many years. The industry has on average contributed approximately 8.8% directly to the country's gross domestic product during 2011. The potential impact by the new royalty reform was predicted by researchers to impact mining operations' profitability between 2% and 5%, whilst the sector's contribution to total taxes was expected to rise by 8%. The actual impact of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act on the country's fiscal and mining industry was reviewed to determine just how many circumstances have changed in South African mining, if any. The research study has found that although there has been an impact it was not as significant as anticipated.