Khanh Hoa Provincial Inspectorate has just announced the thematic inspection conclusion on the management, licensing and exploitation of minerals in the province, thereby discovering many shortcomings in land management, financial obligations and exploitation activities of enterprises.
According to the inspection conclusion, there are 4 enterprises including Manh Cuong Co., Ltd., Quyet Thang Co., Ltd., Cam Ranh Automobile Transport Service Joint Stock Company (exploitation in 2020) and Khoang Viet Khanh Hoa Joint Stock Company (exploitation in 2020) that have carried out mineral exploitation from the time of licensing but have not been leased land by the Provincial People's Committee.
The Inspectorate determined that the exploitation without a land lease contract was not in accordance with the provisions of the 2010 Mineral Law and the terms in the mineral exploitation license issued by the Provincial People's Committee.
From 2020 to now, the above-mentioned enterprises have all reported on the mineral exploitation situation to the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
However, this agency has not inspected or sanctioned the act of exploitation when there is no land lease contract, showing that management is still not strict enough.
The inspection conclusion also identified the management responsibility under the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the People's Committees of Nam Cam Ranh, Van Ninh, Van Hung and Ba Ngoi (old) communes and wards when allowing the situation of mineral exploitation enterprises but not completing land lease procedures to occur.
In addition to land violations, the inspection also discovered that some businesses declared incomplete or incomplete financial obligations related to natural resource tax and environmental protection fees.
In which, Thien Kim NT Trading Co., Ltd. declared a shortage of 200m3 of sand in June 2025, leading to a short payment of nearly 9 million VND of natural resource tax and environmental protection fees.
Notably, Saigon Mineral and Investment Joint Stock Company was determined to have declared incomplete natural resource tax and environmental protection fees at Bo Da 3 mine, Van Hung commune in 2021, 2023 and 2024 with an amount of more than 959 million VND.
The total amount of money that businesses must declare and supplement in the period 2021-2024 is more than 1.13 billion VND and has been deposited into the temporary custody account of the Provincial Inspectorate according to regulations.
Trung Viet Investment Joint Stock Company was also determined to have not fully declared and paid environmental protection fees for exploited minerals in 2020, 2021 and 2025, and must make additional declarations and payments of more than 239.7 million VND.
According to a report by the Environmental Protection Fund, by the end of 2025, the total amount of environmental protection deposits of 16 inspected businesses is more than 13 billion VND.
Among them, 13 enterprises have completed the deposit obligation, 2 enterprises still owe more than 1.8 billion VND, including Thien Kim NT Trading Co., Ltd. and An Hung Mineral Joint Stock Company; 1 enterprise has not yet started mining operations.
The Provincial Inspectorate proposed that the Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee request the Department of Agriculture and Environment to urgently overcome shortcomings in the management, licensing, storage of records, land management and mineral activities.
At the same time, review legal regulations, remove difficulties for businesses to complete land lease procedures; resolutely only allow units to continue exploitation after completing all land lease procedures according to regulations.
