Under the strategy, investment priority will be given to conductingbasic geological surveys on land and at sea to estimate the country'smineral resources.
Exploration and extraction will be closely associated with processing and efficient use of the resources.
The overall objective of the strategy is to combine the sustainableextraction of resources with processing in order to produce productswith high economic value.
Viet Nam targets toterminate the production of all small mineral processing facilities andtechnology which causes pollution and results in low economic efficiencyby 2020.
It also resolves to export only processed mineral resources of high value after 2020.
Key resources that the country wants to focus on are peat in the RedRiver Delta; bauxite and laterite in the Central Highlands; rare earthand zinc in the northwestern region, Viet Bac and central region;lithium and gold in the central part and light-coloured granite in thenorth.
For coal exploration and mining, work will beconducted 300m below the Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Quang Nam coalbasins. For mining in the Red River delta, the strategy asks for thebest options to ensure negative impacts on socio-economic developmentare minimised while protecting the environment.
Gold mining will continue to be carried out in existing mines but only advanced technologies will be permitted.
The Prime Minister has adopted an action programme to turn the strategy into reality.
The key objective of the programme is to define tasks for central andlocal government agencies in their execution of Resolution 02-NQ/TW onthe strategic orientation for mining and the mineral resources industryby 2020 with a vision 2030.
Under the programme,popularisation of the Law on Mineral Resources will be conducted; theenforcement and effectiveness of the state management on mineralresources strengthened; mechanisms and policies in the field of mineralresources renewed; and the mineral resources industry developed.
The Government has assigned specific tasks to each ministry. By lateMarch 2012, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment mustcomplete a guiding document to implement the Law on Mineral Resourcesand the decree on tendering the rights to extracting minerals.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has been assigned with the task ofcompleting the organisational structure on State management from centralto local governments, including human resources development./.