Ruling of Zakat of Mines and Ore in Islam

The word mine is applied to those place where Allah has created jewellery, metals, minerals and precious substances such as gold, silver, cooper etc. mining is the process of extracting minerals and metals from the earth. Ore refers to the treasury or wealth that is found under the earth. Be it created by God by the time of creating the earth without being buried by humans, or the wealth or treasure that has been buried by disbelievers. The obligation to pay zakat on mines is established and proved in the Holy Qur'an, the Prophetic Sunnah and the consensus. The conditions of Zakat on mines and ore are, if a person finds a mineral or ore and pay its zakat, must be a Muslim, must be free, not a slave, because wealth is the main condition for the obligation of zakat and slaves can’t be the owner of wealth. Another condition is that any property that is obtained from a mine or ore should reach the nisab (quorum). Nisab (quorum) refers to the minimum amount of wealth for the obligation of zakat. Nisab (quorum) for mines and ore is same as the nisab (quorum) for gold and silver and that is, twenty mithqal of gold or two hundred dirhams. According to the Hanafi scholars, the amount of zakat on ore is one fifth (1/5)th of the obtained wealth, the same should be for mines. But according to the vast majority of scholars the amount of zakat for mines is quarter of tenth (4/10)th. Moreover, whatever is extracted from the sea, be it ornaments or jewellery, one fifth of the same is obligatory to be paid to the treasury (byt al-mal) and the rest becomes the right and property of the extractor.