Mining Protection: Law 21.853 reduces patents and transfers competencies to Energy

The Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile published this Thursday, November 5, 2026, Law No. 21,853, which modifies the Mining Code and laws numbers 21,420 and 21,649 regarding mining protection. The regulation, dispatched by the Ministry of Mining under official reference CVE 2898425, reduces the amount of the exploitation concession patent, extends protection deadlines, and transfers powers from the Ministry of Mining to the Ministry of Energy. It is effective from its publication, except for the patent amount rules, which remain subject to the adaptation of the regulation.

The law was promulgated on October 30, 2026, by President José Antonio Kast Rist, signed by ministers Daniel Mas Valdés (Mining), Jorge Quiroz Castro (Finance), Ximena Rincón González (Energy), and José Ignacio Vial Barros (Environment, acting), and was submitted by the Undersecretary of Mining, Álvaro González Gorroño. The text occupies four pages of Section I of the official bulletin, destined for laws, regulations, decrees, and resolutions of general order. Its scope is transversal: it affects both large companies and small producers who must pay the annual patent to avoid losing their holdings, as the protection of the exploitation concession is materialized precisely through that payment, meaning that any change in amounts or deadlines affects the risk of auction and the declaration of free land.

Transfer of competencies and protection deadlines

Article 1 of the text replaces, in the sixth paragraph of Article 9 of the Mining Code, the expression “Ministry of Mining” with “Ministry of Energy,” whereby the Ministry of Energy assumes the competence previously exercised by the mining portfolio in this matter.

In Article 142, the reference “and easements” is removed, the period provided therein is extended from two to five periods, and the figures in the fourth paragraph are increased: the two “100s” become “150s” and the “50” becomes “100”. The rest of the articles adjust the procedure for the collection and auction of delinquent concessions.

Reduced patent and support for small-scale mining

The new Article 142 bis sets the annual patent for exploitation concessions at four-tenths of a monthly tax unit per full hectare and enables a reduced patent of one-tenth of a monthly tax unit per hectare for holdings that are in any of these situations:

• Included in a mining development project in the exploration, prospecting, construction, exploitation, mineral processing, or site closure stage, whose holder possesses a permit or form admitted for processing before the Service, a sworn statement, or an alternative enabling technique under Law No. 21.770.
• Included in a project with a favorable Environmental Qualification Resolution or admitted for processing in the Environmental Impact Assessment System of Law No. 19.300, as long as the resolution remains in effect or the project continues to be processed.
• Those for which geological information has been submitted in accordance with Article 21, with certified receipt by the Service; this benefit applies for five consecutive periods.

It shall be sufficient for a single claim of the same survey act to meet any of these hypotheses to legally presume that all claims of the productive unit access the reduced amount; the regulation will define the productive unit and its expansions. The rejection of a request must be issued by a reasoned resolution and may be appealed within thirty days.

Article 142 ter creates a regime for holders of one or several claims whose total extension does not exceed 500 hectares and who carry out work in at least one concession: they shall pay one-tenth of a monthly tax unit per full hectare, with a presumption of the benefit for five years. To access this, they must be natural or legal persons registered with the National Mining Company or another established purchasing power, and prove that they are up to date with the payment of their patents.

Auctions, Cadastre, and Publication of Data

The modifications to Articles 147, 150, 152, and 155 allow for the rectification of the list of debtors before the auction, require the appraisal of costs within five business days, declare the award null and void if the bidder does not pay the price within eight days, and declare the land free after ten business days without bidders, with free cancellation of registrations by the Mining Conservator within one month and removal of the concession from the National Cadastre of Mining Concessions.

Additionally, Article 4 obliges the National Geology and Mining Service to publish annually on its website, disaggregated by region, information regarding the number of concessions and hectares subject to the reduced patent, the invoked cause, and the number of revoked benefits.

Validity and Transitional Relief

Articles 142 bis and 142 ter, referring to the amount of the patent and its reduction, shall govern once the modifications to the Mining Code Regulations, which must be adapted within a period of six months, are published in the Official Gazette. The auction rules of Articles 147, 150, 152, and 155 will apply starting from the patent payment process of the year 2027.

As an immediate measure, the General Treasury of the Republic must postpone the payment of the 2026 annual patent until February 28, 2027, waive the late payment surcharge under Article 149, and sign agreements for up to twelve monthly installments. The law also repeals the second transitory article of Law No. 21.649, maintaining the benefit for those who already enjoyed it, as well as numbers 13 and 14 of Article 10 of Law No. 21.420.

The impact is twofold for the sector: mining companies must recalculate their patent flows and prove grounds before the Service to access the reduction, while small producers gain a payment deadline and a reduced patent path which, if poorly documented or lost, returns them to the general regime and exposes them to the auction of their belongings.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,591, Thursday, November 5, 2026, Section I (General Norms), pp. 1-4 (official reference: CVE 2898425).