Pedimento and manifestación: how a mining concession is requested in Chile

What each one asks for

Both filings identify the applicant, locate the ground and name the concession. The point and the area differ:

• Pedimento: geographic or UTM coordinates of the midpoint of the upper face, up to 5,000 hectares and one exploration concession per filing.
• Manifestación: the point of interest, the number of pertenencias and their name, up to 1,000 hectares for the whole set.

Filing and registration

The court clerk certifies the day and hour of filing and enters it in a numbered register (art. 47). That date matters: it sets priority over other requests.

The filing is entered in the Registro de Descubrimientos of the Conservador de Minas where the point lies, and registration and publication must happen within 30 days of the decision ordering them. Actions claiming a better right must be brought within three months of publication.

From exploration to exploitation

A manifestación can be made under the right given by a constituted exploration concession in force, if it says so and attaches that concession's records. Its date is then the pedimento's, so seniority is kept (Regulation, art. 15). If the exploration concession is no longer in force, that effect does not apply.

Where to see them

Pedimentos and manifestaciones are published in the Boletín Oficial de Minería. They are the first public sign of interest in an area.