Gran Colombia resumes gold production as protests end
Gran Colombia Gold, the country's largest precious metals producer, said it restarted operations after government brokered talks ended a 10 day protest by illegal miners in northern Antioquia department.
National and regional government officials agreed to set up a roundtable with small-scale miners whose demonstrations against a formalization drive halted operations at the company's underground Segovia and Remedios gold-silver mines last week, Toronto-based Gran Colombia said in a statement.
The company, which last month raised its 2016 production guidance to 145,000oz gold from an earlier 135,000oz, added the stoppage will not have a "significant effect" on output.
"We are pleased to see this civil unrest come to an end," CEO Lombardo Paredes said in the statement. "Our contract mining model, under which more than 2,500 miners in Segovia and Remedios are currently working with the company, is fully aligned with the requirements of the mining regulations in Colombia."
The company, which has agreements in place with 41 cooperatives within its concessions, said it plans to start individual negotiations with illegal miners in the area next week with backing from USAID and the Antioquia regional government.
The roundtable, which is to hold its first session on October 5, recognizes that small-scale mining is an age-old activity in the region, Antioquia regional government secretary Victoria Ramírez told RCN Radio.
The roundtable will involve officials from the mining ministry, the national mining agency (ANM), the Antioquia regional government, local municipalities and the company, who will seek to solve persisting local social and economic problems, according to Radio Caracol.
President Juan Manuel Santos, along with the leaders of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, is seeking to halt money laundering, deforestation and pollution of the Amazon jungle by formalizing informal miners.
The government has identified 7,000 mining operations in 16 departments, according to the energy and mines ministry. Small-scale mining accounts for 70% of operations in Colombia, Latin America's largest coal producer.
Total gold output rose 32.4% to 1.05Moz in the first half from 791,320oz a year earlier, according to ANM.
Subscribe to the leading business intelligence platform in Latin America with different tools for Providers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance industries.
News in: Mining & Metals (Colombia)
Spotlight: The state of ESG practices in Latin America
The sectors with the highest ESG ratings in the region are forestry, pulp and paper, along with electric energy and the banking industry, due to th...
Colombia mining reform seen as insufficient to help lower conflict potential
If underlying problems are not addressed, tensions will keep simmering, a webinar was told.
Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.
Other projects in: Mining & Metals (Colombia)
Get critical information about thousands of Mining & Metals projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.
- Project: La Tabaquera
- Current stage:
- Updated:
6 months ago
- Project: La Pantera
- Current stage:
- Updated:
6 months ago
- Project: Quebradona
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 months ago
- Project: Miraflores (Quinchia Project)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 months ago
- Project: San Juan
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 months ago
- Project: GUATIGUARA RINCÓN
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 years ago
- Project: La Mina (Colombia)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
8 months ago
- Project: Marmato underground project
- Current stage:
- Updated:
8 months ago
- Project: Mocoa
- Current stage:
- Updated:
8 months ago
- Project: Batero-Quinchía
- Current stage:
- Updated:
9 months ago
Other companies in: Mining & Metals (Colombia)
Get critical information about thousands of Mining & Metals companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.
- Company: Minera Anzá S.A.  (Minera Anzá)
- Company: Geotec Infraestructura S.A.S
- Company: Minera Monte Águila
- Company: Colombia Minerales Industriales S.A.S.
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Millinton Coal International Inc.  (Millinton Coal International)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Minera Buey Aures S.A.S.
- Company: Mecánicos Asociados S.A.S - MASA STORK  (Mecánicos Asociados)
-
MASA and STORK, with more than 35 years of experience in the hydrocarbon, petrochemical, power, industrial and mining sectors worldwide are dedicated to manage the integrity of ...
- Company: Cummins Norte de Colombia S.A.S.  (Cummins Norte de Colombia)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...