An artisanal mining licence is a small, low-cost mineral title that lets individuals, families or cooperatives mine a limited area using simple methods. It goes by many names: artisanal mining permit, small-scale mining licence, primary mining licence, Class C licence or, in South Africa, a mining permit. What these titles share is scale. The area is small, the term is short, and in most countries the holder must be a citizen.

Try it: Will your plot fit? Small-title area and term check →

Formalising matters. The World Bank’s 2020 State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector report, produced with Delve, estimates that artisanal and small-scale mining is the main source of work for at least 44.75 million people in 80 countries. Many of them work without any title. An artisanal mining licence gives a miner something to show a buyer, a lender or a police officer, and a legal claim to the ground they have worked. The rest of this page is about how to get one.

“Artisanal and small-scale mining is the main source of work for at least 44.75 million people in 80 countries.”

What an artisanal mining licence is, and how it differs from small-scale mining

Mining laws usually separate two tiers at the bottom of the licence ladder. Artisanal mining means manual or traditional methods: Kenya’s Mining Act, 2016 defines it as traditional and customary mining operations using traditional or customary ways and means. Small-scale mining allows some mechanisation and a larger area, and often asks for more paperwork. Some countries merge the two tiers; others, like Uganda under its Mining and Minerals Act, 2022, keep a separate Artisanal Mining Licence alongside a Small-Scale Mining Licence.

• Artisanal title: hand tools, a very small area, usually individuals or groups, often inside a designated artisanal zone.
• Small-scale title: limited machinery, a bigger area, sometimes companies, still usually citizens only.
• Above them sit medium- and large-scale mining licences, which need feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments and much more capital.

The difference matters because the requirements for a small scale mining permit are usually heavier than for an artisanal mining licence, and the rights differ too. Before you apply, check which tier your method of working falls into. Using machinery that your title does not allow, such as an excavator on an artisanal permit, can breach its conditions and put the permit at risk.

Why an artisanal mining licence is worth the paperwork

Why formalise at all, when informal work has gone on for generations? Security. An artisanal mining licence gives you an exclusive, recorded right to a defined plot, so a larger company or a neighbour cannot simply move onto ground you have worked. It gives buyers and refiners a permit number to check, which matters as buyers and refiners audit their supply chains more closely. It can open doors to cooperatives, equipment finance and government training. And it protects you in the event of an inspection.

Governments want the same outcome for their own reasons: royalties, safety and environmental control. That is why many laws deliberately keep the cost of an artisanal mining licence low and the capacity tests light. Kenya’s Mining Act goes further and sets up dedicated county offices whose job includes advising and training artisanal miners and helping them form associations and cooperatives.

Requirements for a small scale mining permit or artisanal mining licence

The requirements for a small scale mining permit differ by country, but these items appear in almost every law we reviewed. Treat them as a checklist and confirm the details with your local mines office, or with the national registry listed in our directory of official mining cadastre portals.

• Citizenship. The most common rule. Ghana reserves its Small Scale Mining Licence for Ghanaians. Tanzania’s Primary Mining Licence is for Tanzanian citizens or wholly Tanzanian-owned companies. Uganda reserves artisanal licences for Ugandans. Kenya requires citizens, or companies at least 60% owned by Kenyan citizens.
• Age. Ghana’s small-scale licence is commonly described as open to citizens aged 18 or over, and Kenya’s Act sets 18 as the minimum for any mineral right.
• Group registration. Many artisanal permits go to cooperatives or associations. Kenya’s application form asks for the name, place of registration and office address of the cooperative, association or group.
• A described area. Coordinates or a sketch plan of the plot, which must be free of other titles.
• Landowner consent. Kenya requires it wherever the land is not a designated artisanal or small-scale mining area. South Africa requires consultation with the landowner and lawful occupier.
• Environmental plan. South Africa asks mining permit applicants for an environmental management plan once the application is accepted.
• Lighter capacity tests. Kenya’s Act waives the technical and financial capacity test for artisanal and small-scale operations wholly owned by Kenyans.
• Fees. Usually modest. Kenya’s Ministry of Mining FAQ listed a KShs 1,000 application fee and KShs 10,000 a year for a mining permit when we checked in September 2026.

Artisanal mining licence rules compared across countries

Nine jurisdictions, one table. Figures come from mining acts, regulators’ websites and our verified cadastre research, checked in September 2026. Uganda (2022), Sierra Leone (2022) and Zambia (2024) have all rewritten their mining laws, and South Africa published a draft bill for comment in May 2025, so check the rules in force before you apply.

How do those caps translate on the ground? A 1.5-hectare South African permit is a plot of about 122 by 122 metres. A 10-hectare Tanzanian PML is roughly 316 metres square. Pace out your plot, or read the corners off a phone, and check it against the title you plan to apply for.

What an artisanal mining licence costs

Published fees for small titles are modest next to the cost of equipment and labour, but they recur. A few examples, each with the schedule it came from:

• Kenya mining permit: KShs 1,000 to apply and KShs 10,000 a year, per the Ministry of Mining FAQ (checked September 2026).
• Western Australia Special Prospecting Licence for gold: A$478 to apply, rent of A$4.40 per hectare and a A$2,000 minimum annual expenditure on the Fees and Charges 2026–27 schedule, which DMPE reissues every July.
• Western Australia Miner’s Right: A$30 on the same schedule, for prospecting and keeping samples of up to 20 kg, but not for mining.
• South Africa mining permit: a prescribed, non-refundable application fee; gov.za advises contacting the department for the amount.

In Kenya the permit’s own fees add up slowly but steadily. Over a five-year term that is KShs 51,000 before royalties, as the line shows. Budget too for royalties on sales, transport to an office for renewals, and the cost of an environmental plan where one is required. Those often add up to more than the licence fee itself.

How to apply for an artisanal mining licence, step by step

A small scale mining permit application is simpler than one for a large licence, but the steps are similar in most countries. This is a general sequence; your local mines office will have its own forms and order.

1. Check eligibility. Confirm citizenship, age and group rules, and whether your method counts as artisanal or small-scale.
2. Form or join a group. Register a cooperative or association if the law expects one.
3. Find open ground. Search the cadastre or visit the district or county mines office. Designated artisanal zones can make the process easier.
4. Describe the area. Record coordinates of the plot corners with a GPS or phone, in the format the office uses.
5. Get landowner consent where the land is not a designated mining area, and record it in writing.
6. Lodge the application and pay. In Ghana this is online; in Kenya artisanal permits go to the representative of the Director of Mines in the county; in South Africa mining permits are lodged online through SAMRAD.
7. Complete follow-up steps. South Africa, for example, asks for an environmental management plan and a written consultation outcome within 30 days of acceptance.
8. Receive the title and keep it alive. Pay annual fees and royalties, keep records, and apply to renew on time.

If you have a plot in mind, you can check it by satellite before you commit to fees and equipment. Draw it on mining.farmonaut.com (Map Your Mining Site), or ask for a quote through our mining query form.

Small scale mining permit application by country

Ghana: Small Scale Mining Licence

Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) reserves small-scale mining for Ghanaian citizens. The Minerals Commission’s mineral rights page lists the Small Scale Mining Licence as a five-year, renewable title for mineral extraction, with the area set by the number of blocks prescribed in regulations. Every application, including small-scale, has gone through the Commission’s online repository since November 2021, and small-scale applications can also be searched at district offices. Non-Ghanaians are prohibited by law from small-scale mining. The full licensing sequence, from filing to gazette notice, is in our Minerals Commission Ghana licence guide.

Kenya: artisanal mining permit and mining permit

Kenya’s Mining Act, 2016 sets up county mining offices, led by a representative of the Director of Mines, who grants, renews and revokes artisanal mining permits and keeps a register of artisanal miners. Every county also has an Artisanal Mining Committee, chaired by the Governor’s representative, that advises on permits. Section 96 makes an artisanal mining permit valid for three years, renewable on application for one more term, and lets the holder apply to convert it to a small-scale permit. The next tier, a small-scale mining permit, covers up to two contiguous blocks for up to five years. Fees and portal steps for both are covered in our Kenya mining cadastre fees and licences guide.

Tanzania: Primary Mining Licence

Tanzania’s Primary Mining Licence (PML), under the Mining Act, Cap. 123, is the country’s small-scale title. Mining Commission guidance describes it as issued for seven years to Tanzanian individuals, companies or cooperatives. It covers up to 10 hectares and is renewable. Applications go through the Mining Commission and its online portal; our Tanzania licence and royalty guide walks through that portal.

Uganda: Artisanal Mining Licence

Uganda’s Mining and Minerals Act, 2022 created new licence classes, including an Artisanal Mining Licence reserved for Ugandan citizens and a Small-Scale Mining Licence. The Act replaced the old mining lease system, although some portal forms still use pre-2022 names. Check the current forms with the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines.

“Kenya has an Artisanal Mining Committee in every county, chaired by a representative of the Governor.”

Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia

• Nigeria: the Small Scale Mining Lease covers up to 3 km², applied for through the online eMC+ cadastre. Titles are granted first-come, first-served.
• Sierra Leone: the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 2022 provides artisanal and small-scale mining licences, filed with the National Minerals Agency’s Mining Cadastre Office, which can check area availability first.
• Liberia: the Class C Mining Licence is the artisanal tier, covering up to 25 acres. Applications go through the ministry’s online platform.

South Africa: mining permit, and a proposed artisanal right

South Africa’s small-scale title under the MPRDA is the mining permit. It may only be issued where the mineral can be mined optimally within two years and the area does not exceed 1.5 hectares. It runs for up to two years and can be renewed three times for up to a year each. Mining permits are not transferable. You apply online, pay a non-refundable fee, and then submit an environmental management plan and the outcome of landowner consultation.

A draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, gazetted for comment on 25 May 2025, proposes a separate artisanal mining right of up to 1.5 hectares for up to two years. None of the sources we checked in September 2026 showed it enacted, so treat it as a proposal and check its status with the DMPR before relying on it.

Zambia and Australia

Zambia has issued Artisanal Mining Rights, but its Minerals Regulation Commission Act, 2024 and the Geological and Minerals Development Act replaced the 2015 law, so confirm the title names and fees in force with the regulator. Australian states have no “artisanal” category. Small operators there use personal permits such as Western Australia’s A$30 Miner’s Right and small titles such as WA’s 10-hectare Special Prospecting Licence for gold.

Staying legal after your artisanal mining licence is granted

Getting the title is the start. Keeping it means meeting the conditions every year, and on most small titles the clock is short. Most revocations of small titles come from missed payments or unauthorised methods, not from dramatic breaches.

• Pay fees and royalties on time. Keep official receipts.
• Mine only the named mineral and only within the permit boundary.
• Stay within your tier. Machinery beyond what the title allows can trigger suspension.
• Sell through legal channels. Kenya’s Act includes rules on the sale of minerals by artisanal miners, and most countries license dealers and exporters separately.
• Keep records of production and sales for inspections.
• ⚠ Renew early. Kenya’s artisanal permit can be renewed once; South Africa’s mining permit only three times. After that you need a bigger title or new ground.

Moving up from an artisanal mining licence

Small titles are designed as a first rung, not a permanent home. Their first terms run from two years in South Africa to seven in Tanzania, as the dot plot shows.

Kenya’s artisanal permit can be renewed only once, and South Africa’s mining permit only three times, so a productive operation eventually needs a bigger title. In Kenya the next steps are a small-scale mining permit and then a mining licence. In South Africa the step up is a mining right, which can run for up to 30 years but requires a mine plan, a financing plan, a social and labour plan and compliance with the Mining Charter. In Tanzania, the Mining Licence above the PML is open to foreign investors as well as Tanzanians, which is often how small operators bring in partners.

Moving up is far easier with data. A regulator assessing a larger application will want evidence of what lies beyond the small plot, and a partner will want the same before investing. Keeping good records under your artisanal mining licence, and mapping the wider area early, pays off at that stage.

Before you apply: check that the plot is worth licensing

On a 1.5-hectare permit or a 10-hectare PML, there is little room for error. If the mineralised zone runs just outside your boundary, the licence fee, the equipment and the labour are all spent in the wrong place. The cheapest time to reduce that risk is before the application goes in.

Our satellite-based mineral detection analyses multispectral and hyperspectral imagery of the area you send us. Each mineral and alteration zone reflects energy in a distinctive spectral signature, which lets us flag likely mineralised target zones, alteration halos, faults and fractures. That helps you place a small permit where the signal is strongest, or compare two candidate plots before choosing one.

• ✔ Input: the plot corners as coordinates, a KML/KMZ file or a polygon, plus the country and mineral.
• ✔ Turnaround: 5–20 business days, depending on area size and mineral complexity.
• 📊 Deliverables: prospectivity heatmaps, high-potential zones with estimated location and depth ranges, and PDF plus georeferenced GIS files. Premium+ adds TargetMax™ drilling intelligence and 3D subsurface models.
• 📊 Savings: up to 80–85% lower early-exploration cost, with timelines cut from months to days.
• ⚠ Limits: satellite targets are exploration targets, not a resource estimate. Field checks confirm them.

For country-by-country portal links, see our mining cadastre portal guide by country. The satellite-driven 3D mineral prospectivity mapping overview shows a typical deliverable. We have scanned 100,000+ hectares for 20+ mineral types across 25+ countries.

Frequently asked questions

Reviewed September 2026 against Kenya’s Mining Act 2016 and Ministry of Mining FAQ, Ghana’s Minerals Commission pages, Tanzania’s Mining Commission application procedure, gov.za’s mining permit and mining right service pages, Western Australia’s DMPE Fees and Charges 2026–27, and the World Bank’s press release on the 2020 State of the ASM Sector report.

Rules in this guide come from mining acts and regulators’ sites: Kenya’s Mining Act, 2016; Ghana’s Minerals Commission; Tanzania’s Mining Commission guidance; South Africa’s gov.za service pages; Western Australia’s DMPE; the World Bank / Delve 2020 State of the ASM Sector report; and our verified cadastre research. Small-scale rules have been rewritten in Uganda (2022) and Zambia (2024), and South Africa has a draft bill (May 2025), so confirm with the licensing authority before you apply or pay. Nothing here is legal or investment advice.