Cameroon Loi n°2023/014 portant Code Minier — SONAMINES monopoly, 10% free-carry, revised royalties

Mechanism

The 2023 Code Minier supersedes the 2016 Loi n°2016/017 and introduces four structural changes that materially alter the risk/return calculus for foreign mining investors in Cameroon.

1. SONAMINES exclusive gold and diamond monopoly (Articles 4 and 115)

SONAMINES is designated the sole legally permitted buyer and seller of gold and diamonds across Cameroon's territory. All artisanal and industrial producers must channel production through SONAMINES's guichet unique (single counter). Foreign or private traders cannot lawfully purchase gold or diamonds outside this channel; violations attract civil, administrative, and criminal penalties. SONAMINES also issues collector cards for precious and semi-precious substances and serves as the mandatory intermediary in all production-sharing agreements between the state and mining operators. The 2016 code allowed private commercialisation channels alongside the public entity; those channels are now foreclosed.

2. Mandatory 10% non-dilutable state free-carry (Article 47)

All small-scale and industrial mining companies must allocate a 10% equity stake to the state free of charge. The shares cannot be diluted if share capital subsequently increases. The state holds a right of first refusal on any share transfers. Beyond the mandated 10%, the state may acquire up to 10% additional paid equity in small-scale mining projects and up to 25% additional paid equity in large-scale industrial projects at market price. For ongoing projects, this overlay resets previously negotiated equity structures at the next licence renewal or convention renegotiation.

3. Revised royalty and production-sharing schedule

Ad valorem royalties (payable on the market value of the finished product):

• Precious metals (gold, silver, platinum-group): 5%
• Base metals (iron ore, bauxite, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper): 3%
• Radioactive substances (uranium, thorium): 10%

A surface tax (redevance superficiaire) applies additionally based on the area of the licence held, separate from ad valorem charges.

Production-sharing mechanism (Article 48) — layered on top of ad valorem:

• Precious and semi-precious substances: 1–5% of the finished product
• All other mineral substances: 2–15% of raw ore production
• Exact percentages within each band are set by individual mining conventions negotiated

project-by-project with the state.

A 2025 ministerial decision (Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze, April 2025) confirmed that 5% is the working figure for production sharing in large industrial operations under Article 40, alongside the following revenue distribution for ad valorem/extraction tax receipts from industrial and small-scale mining:

4. Strategic mineral classification

The code introduces a "strategic mineral substances" category requiring special government authorisation above and beyond the standard licensing track. Cobalt, nickel, and uranium are treated as strategic given EV and energy-transition demand dynamics.

Key affected projects

Minim-Martap (bauxite, Canyon Resources ASX:CAY): Convention terms must reflect the 10% free-carry and 3% ad valorem. Canyon commenced trial mining in Q2 2026 and expects a first shipment in Q3 2026 under the negotiated convention.

Nkamouna-Lomié (cobalt/nickel/manganese, ex-Geovic/Geocam): The permit was withdrawn in February 2025 and transferred to SONAMINES, which issued an international expression-of-interest in January 2026. Geovic has warned of international arbitration. The 2023 code's free-carry and SONAMINES intermediary role governed the terms Geovic faced at the end of its permit cycle.

Mbalam-Nabeba (iron ore, cross-border with Republic of Congo): The cross-border deposit was estimated at ~35 million tonnes/year production capacity (rich ore phase), requiring a 510 km Mbalam–Kribi railway. Sundance Resources lost its permits in 2020; the Cameroon side passed to Cameroon Mining Company / SONAMINES consortium. A February 2022 State Minister letter designated SONAMINES to lead the mining component in a consortium with five Chinese firms: Yiantian Port, CRCC, MCC, China Baowu Steel Group, and Shanghai Tsingshan Mineral Co. AustSino/Bestway Finance holds the mineral terminal and rail ambitions. The 2023 code governs any future exploitation convention. Project has not reached financial close or construction start as of May 2026.

Sub-Saharan resource-nationalism wave context

The 2023 Cameroon code is part of a broader and contemporaneous reconfiguration of mining governance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Filing peers in this wave:

• Madagascar (2023-07-27): Loi 2023-007 code minier refonte
• Niger (2024-06-21): Imouraren uranium licence revocation
• Rwanda (2024-06-26): Law 072/2024 mining quarry operations
• Mali (2024-07-09): Décret 2024-0396 code minier implementing decree
• Burkina Faso (2024-07-31): Loi 016-2024/ALT code minier

Cameroon's vector differs from the Sahel-belt juntas (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso) in that it operates within a constitutional framework and explicitly targets investment attraction — the code preserves and improves an investor-facing licensing structure while inserting SONAMINES as a mandatory state rent-collector. The junta-belt codes lean toward outright nationalisation or expropriation; Cameroon's code is more akin to the Rwanda/Tanzania model of tightening terms rather than ejecting operators.

Implementing decree

Décret N°2024/05253/PM du 19 novembre 2024 (Prime Minister's Office) specifies the modalities for quarry substance exploitation, filling a regulatory gap created by the 2023 code's separation of mining substances (minières) from quarry substances (carrières). Four quarry categories are established: domestic (déclaration), artisanal (mayoral authorisation), public-interest, and industrial (both MINMIDT permit). Two sibling decrees signed the same day (2024/05249/PM on mining/quarry rights obligations; and additional decrees on artisanal, semi-mechanised, and industrial operations) complete the implementing framework.

Open questions

• Will Geovic's threatened arbitration succeed under the OHADA treaty or Cameroon-US BIT, and

how will SONAMINES respond if ordered to compensate?

• Under what terms will SONAMINES bring in a foreign operator to restart Nkamouna, given the

cobalt price cycle trough in 2024-25?

• Whether the Mbalam-Nabeba consortium finalises a mining convention under the 2023 code terms

before Congo-side politics (Nabeba, Sangha Mining) further complicate the cross-border rail and mineral terminal financing.

• Trajectory of SONAMINES's artisanal gold formalisation campaign — the ~200+ illegal foreign-

operated mines uncovered in 2024 suggest enforcement capacity is the binding constraint, not legal authority.