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SEC. 3. All mineral lands of the public domain and minerals belonging to the State, and their disposition, exploitation, development, or utilization, shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, or associations, at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the inauguration of the Government established under the Constitution.
SEC. 4. The ownership and the right to the use of land for agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential, or for any purpose other than mining does not include the ownership of, nor the right to extract or utilize, the minerals which may be found on or under the surface.
SEC. 5. The ownership of, and the right to extract and utilize, the mineral included within all areas for which public agricultural land patents are granted are excluded and excepted from all such patents.
SEC. 6. The ownership of, and the right to extract and utilize, the minerals included within all areas for which Torrens titles are granted are excluded and excepted from all such titles.
SEC. 7. With the exceptions of the soil which supports organic life, and of ordinary earth, gravel, sand, and stone which are used for building or construction purposes, the disposition of which is governed by Act Numbered Three thousand seventy-seven, as amended by Act Numbered Three thousand eight hundred and fifty-two of the Philippine Legislature, all inorganic substances found in nature in solid, liquid, gaseous, or any intermediate state are minerals within the purview of this Act.
SEC. 8. Mineral lands are those in which minerals exist in sufficient quantity or quality to justify the necessary expenditures to be incurred in extracting and utilizing such minerals.
SEC. 9. The exploitation of public and private lands for mining purposes shall be governed by existing laws, rules and regulations which may be promulgated thereunder.
SEC. 10. Subject to any existing rights, all valuable mineral deposits in public or in private land not closed to mining location, and the land in which they are found, excepting coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils and gas, which are now governed by special laws, shall be free and open to exploration, occupation, location, and lease, by citizens of the Philippines of legal age, or by associations, or by corporations organized and constituted under the laws of the Philippines: Provided, That at least sixty per centum of the capital of such associations or corporations shall at all times be owned and held by citizens of the Philippines.
SEC. 11. Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, the President may set apart mineral land reservations, and he shall by proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations, and the boundaries thereof, and thereafter such reservations shall be closed or open to mining location or lease as the President may deem wise and may so provide in the proclamation. The President may, with the concurrence of the National Assembly, by proclamation alter or modify the boundaries of any mineral reserve from time or revoke any such proclamation, and upon such revocation, such reserve shall be and become part of the public domain as though no such proclamation had ever been made: Provided, however, that the President is hereby authorized to declare by proclamation any mineral reserve, closed to mining location: Provided, further, That all mineral reservations set aside by the Chief Executive prior to the approval of this Act shall remain in full force and effect and shall be administered and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 12. From and after the date of proclamation of a mineral reserve, if the same has not been proclaimed closed to mining location, the lands thereby may be disposed of only for mining purposes as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 13. Whenever lands are reserved for purposes other than for mining, the holders of mining locations or leases within any such new reserve, at the time the reservation is made, shall continue to enjoy all rights accorded them under existing law with respect to such locations or leases as if such reservation had never been made.
SEC. 14. Lands within reservations for purposes other than mining, which, after such reservation is made, are found to be more valuable for their mineral contents than for the purpose for which the reservation was made, may be withdrawn from such reservations by the President with the concurrence of the National Assembly, and thereupon such lands shall revert to the public domain and be subject to disposition under the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 15. Land leased for mining purposes shall be classified as follows: First group — Metals or metalliferous ores. Second group — Precious stones. Third group — Fuels. Fourth group — Salines and mineral waters. Fifth group — Building stone in place, clays, fertilizers, and other nonmetals.
SEC. 16. Lands of the first group shall be those which contain any of the metallic elements or minerals, or their combinations, such as gold, silver, platinum, tin, chromium, iron, manganese, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, cinnabar, tungsten, and the like.
SEC. 17. Lands of the second group shall be those which contain minerals mainly used for ornamental purposes such as diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire, topaz, amethyst, zircon, aquamarine, opal, jade, agate, tourmaline, beryl, garnet, turquoise and the like.
SEC. 18. Lands of the third group shall be those which contain combustible substances in solid, liquid, gaseous form, such as peat, coal, mineral oils, natural gas, oil shales, asphalt, and the like, but not the recent products of organic life.
SEC. 19. Lands of the fourth group shall be those which contain surface or subterranean soluble substances or waters which by their mineral contents are classified as mineral waters, such as salt, nitrates, sulphurated, carbonated, sodic, calcic, and other waters.
SEC. 20. Lands of the fifth group shall be those which contain nonmetallic substances, such as: (a) Those used for building or construction purposes, such as marble, granite, clay, and the like. (b) Asbestos, feldspar, lime, mica, guano, phosphate, potash, saltpeter, niter, and the like. (c) Other substances used in the manufacture of paints, ceramics and fertilizers and for other industrial purposes.
SEC. 21. Aerolites or other bodies coming from sidereal space are minerals within the meaning of this Act, the disposition of which shall be determined by regulations.
SEC. 22. Mineral lands may be classified under more than one group, depending upon the nature and uses of the minerals contained therein.
SEC. 23. The minerals which are not specifically mentioned in this Act, and new ones which may be discovered in the future, shall be classified under their proper groups, whenever necessary, and shall be included therein by law or regulations.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).