The Agência Nacional de Recursos Minerais (ANRM) was established by Presidential Decree 161/20 of 5 June 2020, subsequently amended by Presidential Decree 6/22 of 12 January 2022. It describes itself as "the public body for promotion, regulation, inspection, certification and assaying of Angola's mining sector."
Its inspection function is exercised through a dedicated Directorate for Mining Inspection, Safety and Environment. Among the activities the Agency publishes as within its remit is the "verification of prospecting, research and evaluation work in concession areas" — during which it conducts site visits, analyses research reports, and acts against unlicensed extraction.
The Agency's role is not limited to inspection after the fact. For industrial-scale projects, the mineral investment contract is negotiated between the ANRM and the investor case by case, covering operational, economic and fiscal terms from exploration through to marketing. The same body that will later verify field work is party to the commitments being made.
For licence holders, this collapses a distinction that is often assumed to exist between the commercial negotiation and the technical compliance relationship. The reporting cadence agreed in the contract, the quality of the data returned under Article 119(h), and the credibility of the field programme are all read by the same counterparty.