Objectively, this crime is manifested as illegal exploitation and destruction of mineral resources in violation of the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Mineral Resources.
Illegal mining, that is, unlicensed mining, refers to the act of entering the state-planned mining areas, mining areas of great value to the national economy and other people's mining areas without obtaining a mining license, arbitrarily mining specific minerals that are protected by the state, or refusing to stop mining after being ordered to stop mining despite having a mining license, resulting in the destruction of mineral resources.
According to the provisions of this article, illegal mining includes four situations:
(1) unlicensed mining behavior
(2) Mining in unauthorized mining areas.
(three) unauthorized exploitation of protected minerals.
(4) the behavior of "cross-border mining"
According to Article 68 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on the Standards for the Prosecution of Criminal Cases under the Jurisdiction of Public Security Organs [Illegal Mining Cases (Paragraph 1 of Article 343 of the Criminal Law)], those who mine without a mining license, or those who enter the state-planned mining areas, mining areas of great value to the national economy and other people's mining areas without authorization, or those who arbitrarily mine specific minerals that are subject to protective mining as stipulated by the state and refuse to stop mining after being ordered to do so.
In any of the following circumstances, it belongs to "mining without a mining license" as stipulated in this article:
(a) mining mineral resources without a mining license;
(two) continue to mine mineral resources after the mining license is cancelled or revoked;
(3) Mining mineral resources beyond the mining area specified in the mining license;
(four) mining mineral resources without the minerals specified in the mining license (except primary and associated minerals);
(five) other circumstances of mining mineral resources without obtaining a mining license.
Mining without authorization during the period of withholding the mining license according to law shall be regarded as "mining without a mining license" as stipulated in this article.
The amount of value caused by the destruction of mineral resources shall be determined by the competent department of geology and mineral resources at or above the provincial level after verification.
Whoever commits this crime shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or only be fined; Whoever causes serious damage to mineral resources shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.