Legal Protection Of Mineral Resources Security

Since the foundation of new China, great achievements have been made in the fields of mineral resource prospecting and exploration in the nation. However, as industrialization and urbanization speed up in the country, issues also emerge in resource security, which draws back its support to economy development, meanwhile, due to imbalance between need and supply, the growing speed of spare reserves are behind that of consumption. Comparing with developed countries, mineral consumption in China is times or even over ten times higher than them. All kinds of circumstances reveal that we are facing great challenges in mineral resources. In accordance with the protection of mineral resources, although we have Mineral Resource Law as well as a series of administrative rules and ministry regulations, protections as regard to mineral resources security are simply rare, which resulted the legal absence. Serious situation in mineral resource, calls for greater attention to resource security from the legal angle of view. Based on this, this article analyzes the definition of resource security and mineral resource security, and further researches on the legal protections of mineral resource security, finally comes to the conclusion that it is necessary and inevitable to adjust the laws and regulations as regard to resource security.Major developed countries are early in national resource security, who have established resource security strategies and relatively complete domestic legal protection system of resource security; Countries that have abundant mineral resources, as the growing concept of resource protection, corresponding laws and regulations are being framed, to safeguard the security of their national resources; Economically transitioning countries also instituted strict laws and regulations as regard to mineral resource protection, which leveraging the market system to realize the goal of resource security. Although different countries are adopting different policies according to their own situations, to safeguard the security of mineral resources, however, three modes can be summed up among them: The first mode is to limit the mineral development by strict resource protection policies, such as in the United States; the second one is to promulgate specific mineral protection policies, laws and regulations, i.e. in Russia; The third mode is to achieve the goal of mineral resource protection by economy means, for example, in Japan. By comparison and research on these, favorable references to safeguard national mineral security in China can be found, for instance, establish maneuverable laws and regulations, consummate related legal systems, strengthen the legal supervision of mineral exploration.To perfect the legal protection of mineral resource security in China, it is in priority that the legislation and law system be consummated, including amending the Mineral Resource Law and accessory regulations, filling in the legal blanks, constructing a comprehensive legal system of mineral resources. Secondly, market systems of mineral resources shall be improved, including reinforce compensated utilization system, establishing reserves system of mineral resource s, building public participation system. Furthermore, administrative management shall be intensified, executive basis shall be supplemented, management mechanism of resource security shall be be fortified, and simultaneously, legal publicizing of resource security shall be intensified. Finally, legal liabilities of mineral resource security shall be consummated, i.e., civil, administrative, and criminal liabilities of mineral resource security.