On June 3, 2026, Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo signed into law a comprehensive revision of the country’s mining regime. The new mining law ¹ (the “Mining Law”), which replaces Lei No. 20/2014 and was approved by Parliament in May 2026, requires the State — acting through a newly created national mining company, the Empresa Nacional de Minas (“ENM”) — to hold a minimum 15% free-carried, non-dilutable participation in all mining projects at any stage of the value chain. The Mining Law applies to all mining operations and excludes petroleum, natural gas, and associated natural gas.² The legislation grants ENM exclusive rights over strategic minerals. The government has not yet proposed a list of strategic minerals, but is required to do so within 180 days of the Mining Law’s entry into force. The law further prohibits the export of unprocessed or semi-processed mineral products absent explicit ministerial authorization. The Mining Law does not contain express transitional provisions addressing its application to existing mining agreements, licenses, or pending applications. For investors in graphite and other battery-related commodities, the exclusive ENM gatekeeping role for strategic minerals could fundamentally alter the route to securing mining rights. The reform is consistent with a broader pan-African trend³ — observed in the DRC, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tanzania, and Mali — toward greater state capture of mining-sector value. 
 

Key Features of the New Law

The cornerstone of the new regime is the requirement that the State’s participation in mining projects shall not be less than 15%⁴ at every phase of the mineral value chain, from exploration through extraction, processing, and commercialization, and the parliamentary materials indicate that this percentage may be increased. That participation is expressly described in the legislative text as “non-dilutable” and “free-carried”⁵ — meaning the State is not required to contribute capital and its ownership interest remains unchanged regardless of future capital injections. The ENM, created as a state-owned entity with legal personality and administrative, financial, and patrimonial autonomy, will represent the State in all mining ventures.⁶ This structure mirrors — and in some respects exceeds — similar regimes in Botswana (15% free carry), Tanzania (minimum 16% non-dilutable), Kenya (10% free carry), and Ghana (10% free carry), benchmarks expressly cited in the legislative record.⁷

Since 2021, Mozambique has been upgrading two pivotal logistics corridors to improve the nation’s mineral shipping infrastructure and the Mining Law mandates that all mineral resources extracted in Mozambique must be processed in-country.⁸ Operators may only export unprocessed or semi-processed mineral products if they secure specific ministerial authorization, which requires approved plans for eventual local processing. The law empowers the Government to regulate export procedures, processing standards, and control the traceability of the mineral value chain from extraction to commercialization, including traceability requirements from mine to export point.⁹ A minimum of 20% of mineral production must be dedicated to the domestic market.¹⁰ Industry analysts have noted that Mozambique faces formidable practical challenges in realizing these ambitions — including an expensive and unreliable power supply, limited refining infrastructure, and constrained cross-border logistics — factors that may delay full implementation but do not diminish the legal significance of the proposed framework.

3. Local Content and National Preference

The Mining Law also imposes robust local content obligations across the mining sector.¹¹  Goods and services for mining operations must be provided by Mozambican persons or entities, or by foreign entities in association with Mozambican partners, with foreign service providers required to demonstrate that the association results in a substantial contribution to local production or value creation.¹² Mine operators must give preference to local goods and services where they are comparable in quality, even if local prices exceed those of imported alternatives.¹³ The rights to prospecting, research, and exploitation of mineral resources for construction are now reserved exclusively for Mozambican nationals or entities wholly owned by Mozambicans.¹⁴ The Autoridade Reguladora de Minas (“AREMI”), the restructured regulatory authority replacing the former Instituto Nacional de Minas, is charged with monitoring and enforcing compliance with local content requirements. ¹⁵ Mining companies must also submit plans for the progressive replacement of foreign personnel with nationals.¹⁶ 

The law mandates community consultation before the commencement of exploitation, and requires local development agreements between the Government, the mining title holder, and the affected community.¹⁷  Further, 10% of fiscal revenues from the Mining Production Tax shall be allocated to the provinces, districts, and communities where mining projects are located.¹⁸ These revenues will be managed through a dedicated fund to be established by the Council of Ministers.¹⁹  Mining operators are required to prioritize hiring and training a local workforce, publish recruitment notices locally, and submit periodic reports on social responsibility and human rights compliance.²⁰ 

The law permits international arbitration among the available dispute resolution mechanisms in mining contracts, alongside conciliation, mediation, and expert determination.²¹  The law also codifies a broad renegotiation clause — reflecting the civil law doctrine of changed circumstances — pursuant to which the State may seek to renegotiate mining contracts where there has been an “alteração substancial das circunstâncias” (substantial change of circumstances) affecting the economic, financial, environmental, technological, or legal basis of the contract, including shifts in reference market prices and “ganhos extraordinários” (extraordinary gains).²²The law also permits renegotiation on the basis of prolonged force majeure events exceeding six months.²³ The breadth of the renegotiation triggers – particularly the express reference to “extraordinary gains” – creates an asymmetric risk profile in which the State retains a standing option to reopen contractual terms at the point of project success. For major mining companies and international lenders, this may fundamentally undermine the bankability of Mozambican mining projects under conventional project finance structures.

What Investors Should Expect

Existing Projects

A critical and as-yet unresolved question is whether the Mining Law applies to existing mining projects and agreements. The legislative text does not contain express transitional provisions, a savings clause, or a defined cut-off date addressing its application to existing licenses, concessions, or pending applications. Until implementing regulations provide clarity, existing project stakeholders should review concession terms, shareholder arrangements, and stabilization protections as a priority.

Broader Commercial Implications

Mandatory partnership with ENM, local content and export requirements, and accompanying local processing commitments are likely to impact project economics and returns. Community development obligations — including the local development agreements — add compliance layers to the project lifecycle. The renegotiation clause introduces a persistent overhang for any project that performs above original projections, and the breadth of the State’s reserved powers to seek renegotiation may deter lenders accustomed to stabilization commitments. The law’s practical effect will depend heavily on the implementing regulations, the operational capacity of the ENM, and the Government’s approach to existing concessions and applications. 

Next Steps

The Mining Law was signed into effect on June 3, 2026. The Government is required to promulgate implementing regulations and publish a strategic minerals list within 180 days of the Mining Law’s entry into force.²⁴ Mining companies, investors, lenders, and contractors with current or prospective exposure to Mozambique should closely monitor these developments. Existing project stakeholders may wish to prepare for potential renegotiation demands and assess their contractual and treaty protections. Stakeholders at the development or offtake stage should model the new costs of doing business in Mozambique’s natural resource sector.