During the period when operations remain provisionally under the legal quarrying regime, pursuant to article L. 312-4 or the second paragraph of article L. 312-11 of the French Mining Code concerning the transfer to the class of mines of substances previously subject to the legal quarrying regime, exchanges of ownership rights or exploitation rights relating to quarries of substances newly made concessible by decree benefit, with the exception of balancing payments or capital gains, an exemption from all duties in favour of the State, provided that the exchange is authorised in advance by a decree issued with the assent of the Conseil d’Etat and countersigned by the Minister for the Economy and Finance and the Minister for Mines, and that the exchange deed expressly refers to the authorising decree. The latter must state that the exchange is being carried out with a view to rationalising the exploitation of the deposits and increasing their productivity.
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