The INSPIRE Directive lays down general rules for the establishment of an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe based on infrastructures for spatial information established and operated by the Member States. In particular Annex III includes the aspects about area management/restriction/regulation zones and mineral resources themes.

The Mining Cadastre in Spain has been developed based on the ideas of the Inspire Directive. A Mining Cadastre is the cornerstone of a secure mineral rights system and records the geographical location, ownership and time validity of mining rights. Moreover it facilitates the compliance with the payment of fees and/or other requirements to ensure the validity of a concession. Security of tenure is very important both to large- and small-scale mining operations, both in order to ensure a return on investment over the life of a mine but also in order to avoid legal disputes over ownership. The system allows mineral rights' holders and small and large enterprises from other countries to consult and apply for these mineral rights.

In large countries like Spain, mining areas can be far away from the administrative capital city or at least in an area where communication is difficult. Decentralised offices can provide updated information on mining areas and applications to titleholders, applicants, and other interested parties; receive and register applications for mineral rights, either by specific zone or for the whole country; and grant some types of licenses, normally only for small-scale mining or preliminary exploration. In Spain, the Mining Cadastre includes information provided by the different regions and communities to publish online information of mineral rights.

Policy Context

The INSPIRE Directive lays down general rules for the establishment of an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe based on infrastructures for spatial information established and operated by the Member States. In particular Annex III includes the aspects about area management/restriction/regulation zones and mineral resources themes.

In Spain the Mining Cadastre includes information provided by the different regions and communities published as online information on mineral rights. For all these tasks, geographic information is crucial.

One of the essential activities of the MRC is to fix and delimitate the position of mineral rights, which do not have visible physical boundaries. This requires the effective and knowledgeable use of cartographic and geodetic techniques. In many countries, the lack of adequate topographic map coverage and/or a developed geodetic points network has led to the inaccurate positioning of licenses and frequent conflicts, resulting in the insecure tenure of title holders.

The official document used for positioning the mineral rights in Spain is the official cartographic map produced by the National Geographic Institute (IGN) of Spain.

One of the most innovative and efficient concepts introduced in the management of mineral rights is the cadastral unit (CU). A CU is a quadrangular polygon with constant dimensions that is referred to and has a fixed position within a system of coordinates. The definition of a CU should be included in any legal framework, and cadastral procedures should provide technical details about the delimitation of mineral licenses. In Spain the concept of Cadastral Unit is fixed by the Mining Law that defines the quadricula as the standard unit for mineral rights.

 

Description of target users and groups

Mineral rights' holders, small and large enterprises from all the countries must apply for mining rights. Security of tenure is very important both to large and small scale mining operations in order to ensure a return on investment over the life of a mine and to avoid legal disputes over ownership. A Mineral Rights Cadastre (MRC) is defined as an administrative entity that is exclusively responsible for the administration of applications and granted mineral rights, as well as for the maintenance of the cadastre registries and the control of the timing and validity of the granted licenses.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The overall objective of INSPIRE is to make harmonised and quality spatial information readily available to support environmental policies and policies or activities which may have a direct or indirect impact on the environment in Europe.

For all spatial data in Annex I, II, III the harmonised data specifications will cover the definition and classification of the spatial objects relevant to the spatial data and the way in which they are geo-referenced.

In particular Annex III includes the aspects about area management/restriction/regulation zones and mineral resources themes.

The system is based on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards that define a number of standards, both for data models and for online services, that has been widely adopted in the GIS community. The nature of the geographical applications requires seamless integration and sharing of spatial data from a variety of providers. To solve the interoperability problems, the OGC has introduced standards by publishing specifications for the GIS services.

In large countries as Spain where the mining areas are far away from the administrative capital city or where communication is difficult, decentralised offices can provide updated information on mining areas and applications to titleholders, applicants, and other interested parties. It can also receive and register applications for mineral rights, either by specific zone or for the whole country, and grant some types of licenses, normally only for small-scale mining or preliminary exploration. In Spain Mining Cadastre includes information provided by the different regions and communities to publish online information of mineral rights.

Technology solution

The system is based on the Inspire Directive Annex II themes and specifications, and also in Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards, that define a number of standards, both for data models and for online services, that has been widely adopted in the GIS community. The nature of the geographical applications requires seamless integration and sharing of spatial data from a variety of providers. To solve the interoperability problems, the OGC has introduced standards by publishing specifications for the GIS services.

The OGC's mapping services are known as Web Map Services (WMS) and data services as Web Feature Services (WFS) and Web Coverage Services (WCS). WFS provide feature data in vector format encoded in Geographic Markup Language (GML). GML is an XML encoding for the transport and storage of geographic information, including both the geometry and properties of geographic features. The most important and commonly used geometry elements are Points, LineStrings and Polygons. GML is an OGC standard for feature data representation.

The application also uses AJAX, an important web development model for browser-based web applications. It uses several technologies which come together to create a powerful new model. Technologies forming AJAX model such as XML JavaScript, HTTP and XHTML are widely-used and well-known. Web Map Services are self-contained, self-describing, and modular.

Technology choice: Standards-based technology, Mainly (or only) open standards, Accessibility-compliant (minimum WAI AA), Open source software

Main results, benefits and impacts

A Mining Cadastre is the cornerstone of a secure mineral rights system and records the geographical location, ownership and time validity of mining rights, assuring compliance with the payment of fees and/or other requirements to keep a concession valid. Security of tenure is very important both to large- and small-scale mining operations in order to ensure a return on investment over the life of a mine and to avoid legal disputes over ownership.

One of the essential activities of the MRC is to fix and delimitate the position of mineral rights, which do not have visible physical boundaries. This requires the effective and knowledgeable use of cartographic and geodetic techniques. In many countries, the lack of adequate topographic map coverage and/or a developed geodetic points network has led to the inaccurate positioning of licenses and frequent conflicts, resulting in the insecure tenure of title holders.

Successful implementation of a modern mining cadastre requires the development of a database of mining licenses with their status, location, ownership, fees and dues paid, and other relevant information.

A computerised mining cadastre covers all the transactions that take place during the life cycle of the mining title from the initial application, through the granting of the licence, tracking of the necessary annual reports, reassignment or lapsing and final relinquishment of the title.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

The system covers all the mineral rights in Spain and allows small and large enterprises from other countries to consult and apply for the mineral rights.

The Mining Cadastre of Spain was selected for Inspire Conference in Krakow as an example of interoperability between countries. Using standards allows for the said interoperability.

Lessons learnt

Successful implementation of a modern mining cadastre requires the development of a database of mining licenses with their status, location, ownership, fees and dues paid and other relevant information.

A computerised mining cadastre covers all the transactions that take place during the life cycle of the mining title from the initial application, through the granting of the license, tracking of the necessary annual reports, reassignment or lapsing, and final relinquishment of the title, and so it is a useful tool for owners and mineral rights' holders.

Scope: Cross-border