Norway new Minerals Act (mineralloven) — wholesale recodification of upstream minerals-rights regime with national-security review and CRMA alignment

Mechanism

Norway's 2009 Minerals Act had remained the foundational upstream statute for a generation. Prop. 71 L (2024-2025), presented to Stortinget by Minister of Trade, Industry and Fisheries Cecilie Myrseth on 28 March 2025, rewrites the entire regime in 12 chapters / 90 paragraphs. Stortinget adopted it on 12 June 2025 (Innst. 521 L (2024-2025)); it enters into force 1 July 2026, giving rights-holders and regulators 12 months to transition.

Five operative changes

1. National-security review pillar. The Act authorises competent authorities to deny exploration and extraction licences — or impose binding conditions — where a project poses risks to national preparedness or national security. This creates a parallel-track FDI-style screening mechanism for mineral assets, compounding the Sikkerhetsloven Chapter 10 FDI-screening framework (already filed). The security review applies specifically to applications from entities linked to non-EEA jurisdictions, making it material for any Chinese-affiliated acquirer of Norwegian mineral assets.

2. Shorter exploration licences: 7 years → 3 years. The reduction is designed to accelerate project initiation by preventing "land-banking" of exploration rights without active drilling programmes. Shorter licence windows increase competitive pressure to progress projects, which aligns with the Ministry's goal of raising Norway's domestic mineral output within the 2030 EU CRMA timeline.

3. Sámi procedural protections expanded to all Sápmi. The mandatory consultation framework and the state-compensation scheme for indigenous-rights impacts previously applied only in Finnmark County (Finnmarkseiendommen area). The new Act extends full procedural protections to all traditional Sámi areas across Northern and Central Norway. This is a material gating factor for the 80+ exploration licences in areas overlapping Sápmi, including the Fen rare-earth field in Telemark (Nome municipality) and Nussir copper in Finnmark. Project developers will need to demonstrate Sámi consultation compliance before licence approval.

4. One-stop process coordination. The Act consolidates coordination requirements with the Planning and Building Act, Pollution Control Act, and Reindeer Herding Act into a single licence-application pathway. The aim is to reduce procedural fragmentation without eliminating substantive review — an administrative streamlining that addresses the Ministry's diagnosis of Norway's permit process as among the longest in the OECD mining sector.

5. Explicit CRMA alignment mandate. Norway is preparing to incorporate EU Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 into Norwegian law via the EEA Agreement. The new Minerals Act includes an explicit mandate for the regulatory framework to align with CRMA Strategic Project and Strategic Partnership architecture. This makes Norway a quasi-CRMA Member State despite formal non-membership, and enables Norwegian critical-mineral projects to qualify for EU Strategic Project designation — with the CRMA's 24-month permitting guarantee applying de facto.

Downstream implications

• Fen carbonatite REE field (Nome, Telemark): Europe's largest known REE deposit (estimated 8.8 Mt REO, including significant heavy REE concentrations). The CRMA alignment mandate + the parallel April 2026 Norwegian government takeover of planning authority for Fen signals state preparation of this deposit for Pax Silica / EU CRMA Strategic Project offtake architecture. The new Sámi consultation requirements are relevant (Fen lies in or near traditional Sápmi margins) but are unlikely to be a blocking constraint in this case given the project's national-strategic framing.
• Chinese-affiliated applicants screened at licence stage. The national-security review pillar — combined with Sikkerhetsloven Chapter 10 — creates a two-layer screen. A Chinese entity attempting to acquire or form a JV in a Norwegian mineral project must now clear both an FDI screening (Sikkerhetslov) and a licence-level security assessment (new mineralloven). This effectively closes the licence pathway for Chinese direct-control structures while leaving open co-investment structures with Norwegian-EEA majority control.
• Nussir copper and ARD copper-zinc: Both projects in Northern Norway will face Sámi consultation requirements under the expanded regime. Nussir has had prior Sámi consultation challenges; the new statutory framework may formalize what had been case-by-case administrative practice.
• Norway Mineral Strategy 2023 implementation: The Act is the primary statutory vehicle implementing the 2023 Norges Mineralstrategi targets for raising domestic mineral output. The strategy set output-growth ambitions for the 2025-2030 window; the 3-year licence tenure change is the mechanism.

Open questions

• Whether the Norwegian government will adopt EU CRMA via formal EEA Agreement decision and the legislative vehicle for that incorporation
• Specific regulatory-order details for the national-security review criteria and institutional assignment (likely Direktoratet for mineralforvaltning with DMF + NSM coordination)
• Sámi consultation outcome for the Fen and Nussir projects under the expanded geographical scope
• Whether Rare Earths Norway (Fen project operator) will apply for EU CRMA Strategic Project designation once Norway's CRMA EEA adoption decision is completed