Develop a Negotiation Position

Mining Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them was produced by a diverse group of 14 experts from Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Europe to help policy makers, civil society, citizens, and the media understand the often complex and opaque terms of mining contracts. This guide explains in layman’s terms the principal features of a contract, compares different approaches to key issues, and supplies the context and background necessary for non-specialists to understand how contracts are negotiated and what they say.

Available in French and English.

Oil Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them is the sister-guide to the Mining Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them resource. It is a plain-language guide for non-specialists on the often complex and opaque terms of oil contracts. It was produced to help people understand the terms governments negotiate with oil companies, including revenue sharing, operations, and contract pitfalls.

CCSI, together with the World Bank and Natural Resource Governance Institute, developed ResourceContracts.org, an online, searchable and user-friendly database of publicly available oil, gas and mining contracts from around the world. Users can search contracts by country, by natural resource, or by type of contract; view summaries of key social, environmental, fiscal, and operational provisions; and download full contracts.

CCSI’s OpenLandContracts.org is an online, searchable and user-friendly database of publicly available contracts for commercial agriculture, forestry and renewable energy projects from around the world. Users of the website can search contracts and associated documents by different categories; view summaries of key social, human rights, environmental, fiscal, and operational provisions; compare certain provisions across contracts; and download full PDF versions of documents.

PetroleumEcon.com offers an NPV (Net Present Value) model designed to analyze concessionary arrangements in upstream petroleum projects. It implements discounted cash flow techniques to evaluate economic attractiveness under royalty/tax systems or production sharing agreements, supporting sensitivity analysis, scenario comparisons, and Monte Carlo simulations for reserves and price uncertainty. 

The Model Mining Development Agreement is a template created by the International Bar Association’s Mining Law Committee that can be used by mining companies and host governments for mining projects. It provides a balanced, 200+ page draft contract for mining projects in developing countries, with sample clauses drawn from real agreements to support negotiations between governments and companies while prioritizing sustainable development.

Available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian.

This policy note highlights that the 2009 Africa Mining Vision, while widely endorsed, risks falling behind if it does not integrate climate change and just transition imperatives. It makes the case for updating the vision to reflect the Paris Agreement and global net-zero commitments. CCSI calls for governance updates to support low-carbon transitions, just transition measures, and environmental safeguards. For negotiators, it provides a policy anchor to justify including climate-smart measures in mining contracts.

CCSI reviews mining contracts since 2015 for evidence of climate provisions. They find such contracts to be silent in key areas such as renewable energy integration, deforestation accounting, and water use regulations. The report recommends governments include stronger climate-related clauses such as climate risk assessments, robust closure plans, and tailings dam design justifications in future negotiations.

This short document presents a draft set of international principles to govern oil and gas infrastructure transactions. Emphasis is placed on ensuring transparency, continued emissions responsibility, and clear decommissioning duties. The framework aims to provide ready-made language that can be incorporated into contracts to protect both host states and the climate.

In this helpful case study, the authors analyze how Uganda could structure a national mining company to ensure it supports sustainable development. They point to common risks in state-owned enterprises such as inefficiency, capture, and mismanagement. At the same time, they outline governance designs that can deliver transparency and competitiveness.

This short note lays out practical pathways for embedding climate and just transition clauses into extractive industry agreements. It emphasizes how contracts can allocate responsibilities for decarbonization, climate risk management, and social impacts. The guidance is concise, highlighting specific areas where drafting interventions are possible.

The paper examines the concept of political will and its influence on reform in the extractive sector. It stresses that “political will” is not fixed, but can be cultivated or constrained by circumstances. Analytical tools are provided to understand and assess will in specific contexts. In a negotiation context, it can be helpful to assess the depth of government commitment to contractual provisions, informing realistic design and expectations.

This paper reviews fiscal measures adopted during the pandemic in mining sectors of resource-rich states. It shows that many incentives, while easing immediate pressures, risked long-term revenue losses. The report advises caution in using tax relief. For negotiators, it reinforces the importance of protecting fiscal stability in contracts even during times of crisis.

Available in English, French, and Spanish.