A new Circular will be issued to give effect to the process of issuance of permits for mining, transportation and trade of metals, sand, soil, gravel and clay.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed a Presidential Task Force to study the exploitation of Geological resources for development, priorities and self-employment and to meet micro level economic livelihood needs of those engaged in traditional vocations and the sources and methodologies of extraction of such resources.
The Presidential Task Force on geological resources has suggested that tasks such as early identification of geological resources, excavation sites, mapping them, identification of the institutions that own those geological resources and obtaining the necessary clearance certificates should be implemented within a single agency structure.
The circular stated that the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) should take steps to completely reorganize the programme that has been implemented so far with regard to the issuance of permits as instructed in the chapters of the Code.
