FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2025
By ERIC ROSE
Bahamas Information Services
Presenting on Bill to prevent ‘exploitative mining’ – Prime Minister says a new Department of Mining will be established
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis said in the House of Assembly, on April 2, 2025, that the Mining Bill before being debated that day “prevents the establishment of exploitative mining in The Bahamas”.
“There is considerable and justifiable public interest in both the development and protection of our nation’s natural resources,” Prime Minister Davis said. “Bahamians want and deserve assurances that any mining operations in this country, whether led by foreign or domestic investors, will be of significant benefit to the citizens of The Bahamas, while taking every precaution to safeguard our environment and our communities.
“Concerns about mining are not unreasonable,” he added. “Read history, or simply look around the world today – it is all too easy to find countries in which large multinational companies are extracting natural resources, while local populations benefit very little.”
Prime Minister Davis noted that the delicate ecology in Bahamian waters, and the nation’s reliance on marine resources, required the prioritizing of the protection of local communities and the environment. He added that there were both moral and pragmatic reasons to require that any mining activities adhere to stringent and rigorous standards.
“Our number one industry and our chief exports directly and indirectly rely on our natural environment,” Prime Minister Davis pointed out. “Our livelihoods depend on our ability to protect these resources. This is why we have so many national parks and marine protected areas, and why we anticipate creating even more.”
“When we consider the development of our natural resources, we must ensure that what we take can be replenished,” he added.
Prime Minister Davis stressed that it must be ensured that development benefits Bahamians, first and foremost.
He said. “It is our responsibility to ensure that any resource development is conducted sustainably – we can leverage our resources without depleting them. It is our responsibility to consider any proposals for resource development in the context of climate change, which threatens rising seas and more intense storms in the years ahead. It is our responsibility to ensure that local communities are part of the decision-making process, when these decisions will greatly affect them.”
“Any enterprise we allow to operate in our jurisdiction must preserve our natural environment, they respect our people, and conduct their business in a way that aligns with our national interests,” he added.
“That is what this Bill before us is about: safeguarding our national treasures, while ensuring that the Bahamian people benefit from any mining in our country.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that, in driving the introduction of a National Mining Policy, his Government sought and received input from “major environmental stakeholders”.
He added that his Government had productive conversations with a variety of experts regarding best practices when it came to protecting marine and land resources, and prohibiting unregulated mining within Bahamian borders.
“Our policies seek to balance sustainability goals with the potential of new resource development paths,” Prime Minister Davis stated. “To enact, administrate, and enforce the laws and policies, a new Department of Mining will be established.”
He added: “And strict conditions for approval of any mining activities will be introduced. Any entity which comes forward with the intention of setting up a mining operation must demonstrate their capacity to use those resources efficiently, as well as their financial and technical capacity has to be demonstrated.
“We want Bahamians around the decision-making table, keeping a watchful eye over the operation. We want Bahamian owners who have a sense of patriotism and care about the future of our nation.”
Prime Minister said that the Mining Bill ensured that Bahamians can play key roles in these operations.
He said: “Any mining enterprise must also demonstrate how local plant and animal life will be preserved. To preserve our supply of fresh water, they must provide information on the impact on the surrounding bodies of water and on the water table. They must also show how surrounding land will be affected and outline the risk of pollution to the local environment.”
“These criteria must be met before any kind of right or licence is granted,” Prime Minister Davis added. “Any eligible Bahamian citizen or legal entity must also go through a lengthy and comprehensive application process, to demonstrate their capacity and intention to satisfy strict standards.”
Prime Minister Davis noted that any mineral rights granted can also be suspended or cancelled due to any relevant breaches of the agreement and conditions or violations of that law.
“This Bill will introduce a Mining Cadastre Register, so that Bahamians can see for themselves who is applying for mineral rights and mining licences, who has received rights and licences, and the relevant details of who, what, where, when and how these activities shall be conducted,” he stated.
“This transparency, in our view, is critical,” Prime Minister Davis continued. “The natural resources of this country belong to the people. Through this Bill, we are establishing – for the first time – the right of the Bahamian public to be made fully aware of any reconnaissance, prospecting, or mining happening in our country.”
It was crucial, he noted, that “given our history, and given the exploitative model we see in so many places – where outsiders make profits while the people lose – that we prevent unscrupulous practices in our country”.
“That kind of funny business is no business at all,” Prime Minister Davis stated. “It is economic thievery masquerading as enterprise. It is the theft of sovereign wealth; and it will not happen here, not under this Bill.”
“We are enshrining protections in the law, so that moving forward all such agreements must safeguard our national resources, and benefit our people,” he added. “At the same time, we are open to negotiations with investors who come to this nation with an environmentally-conscious, and financially-fair, proposal to make innovative use of our resources.”
Prime Minister Davis stated that his Government was “all about enterprise”.
“The more than $10 billion in investments we’ve brought in are a testament to this fact; but we are also focused on sustainable investment,” he said. “That’s why, during the course of this term, we have launched the Sustainable Development Fund, the National Investment Fund, and the Family Island Development Fund.”
Prime Minister Davis added: “We are doing the foundational work so that we can earn Blue Carbon Credits to fund our developmental initiatives. The carbon credit market continues to evolve to meet changing conditions, and we are keeping pace with those changes. We are also promoting impact investment, eco-tourism, sustainable development, national corporate social responsibility standards, and public-private partnerships, to ensure that investors are working in the areas where they can do the most good.
“That is what we stand for.”
Prime Minister Davis stated that it was possible to plan for prosperity and economic growth without sacrificing the environment or mortgaging the nation’s future.
“This Bill establishes that any mineral resources discovered in our country, whether on public or private land, belong to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” he noted. “It can never be the case that mining activities are able to circumvent the law by being solely carried out on private property.”
Prime Minister Davis added that the Government is entitled to collect both royalties and fees on behalf of the Bahamian people. Those funds, he said, will be collected by our National Investment Fund to go toward critical infrastructure, climate resilience, and other necessary investments to build up the nation.
“Under this Bill, in addition to obligations to train and employ Bahamians, Bahamian businesses must also be given first preference as suppliers of goods and services,” he said. “As we continue to renew and reform the principles which guide our expectations for investors, the inclusion of Bahamian businesses will play a major role.
“We will make this requirement a part of our National Investment Policy framework, so that all investors understand our expectations when it comes to including Bahamian businesses.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that, through royalties, fees, and the inclusion of Bahamian businesses, his Government was maximising the economic impact of any mining activities in the nation. That included the provision of a minimum 25% profit-sharing arrangement between the mining operation and the Government, he added; and the Government was also entitled to hold a 10% equity interest in the holder of a mineral right.
“In other words, there will be no arrangements where the Bahamian people receive pennies on the dollar,” he said.
Prime Minister Davis continued: “In this Bill, we are also protecting the interests of the Bahamian people by aggressively going after any party that seeks to defraud or mislead the public when it comes to their mining activities, and anyone who contravenes the law, or seeks to assault or hinder officials in the execution of their duties. These actions will be penalised with both fines and imprisonment. We require fair, honest, and transparent communication with the Government and Bahamian people, so that we can make the decisions that align with our strategies for economic growth.”
He pointed out that, in his Government’s ‘Blueprint for Change’, it proposed a modern framework for mining operations in The Bahamas.
“For the first time, our country will have a comprehensive regulatory framework and oversight of mining which reflects Bahamian values and interests,” Prime Minister Davis said. “We must always be open to and seek new opportunities, but we must consider any proposals in a measured way.”
He added: “Mining is a national issue of great interest, one that has given rise to many ideas. Some of the ideas put forward have been insightful – while others are workable only in the minds of those who invent them. But you know something, Madam Speaker. In life, there are those who talk about problems and there are those who solve them.”
Prime Minister Davis continued: “Because of the work we have done, in partnership with the people, we will have – for the first time – a comprehensive, modern, economically-empowering, sustainable, ecologically-conscious framework for the regulation of mining and related activities in The Bahamas.
“The Mining Bill has my enthusiastic support as an important step forward for The Bahamas and its people.”
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