When the exploratory license holder submits an application to the administration for an operating license along with an operating project prior to the expiration date of the current exploratory license, an "operating license" shall be issued to the applicant and MIGEM shall be notified, along with blocked areas determined, if any. The operating license holders shall be liable to obtain the required permissions from the relevant institutions in order to initiate operations. If the operating license holder does not start operations within the specified duration, or if the operating license is revoked for any reason, the guarantee shall be recorded as revenue and the site shall be placed under a bid tender by the administration. Of the bidders who participate in the tender with their operating projects, the bidder with the highest revenue proposal to the administration shall be granted the operating license and notified to the MIGEM. Renewals of any wells included in the project, increasing the quantity or capacity of any wells, injection, re-injection, all drilling operations for production purposes, along with other project amendments and revisions shall not be carried out without the consent of the administration. When necessary, the administration may request evaluation from the General Directorate of Minerals Research and Exploration (“MTA”); provided that the cost is covered by the administration. The duration of operating licenses is thirty years. If the license holder requests an extension at the end of the license term, the duration shall be extended in ten year interval periods. MIGEM shall be notified of the time extensions. Requests for direct operation, with extraction, for geothermal and natural mineral waters with natural outlets shall be tied to the operating licenses per the provisions of the Law by the Administration and MIGEM shall be notified.
Operations shall be inspected annually by the Administration. Upon request of the Administration, these inspections may be also be carried out by MTA. Exploration and operating licenses are transferable.
