Colombia’s six-pillar strategy lays foundations for mining future

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Colombia’s newly launched six-pillar mining strategy would boost confidence and investor appeal, said Mines and Energy Vice-Minister María-Isabel Ulloa in an interview with Mining Weekly Online.

The country’s reputation as a mining jurisdiction had been dented in previous years after a rush of companies invested in concessions, only to face delays and then a moratorium on the processing permits and licences.

The first pillar of the strategy was to improve legal certainty. “We’ve done all of the legal modifications we think are needed and we are concentrating on having more concrete and stable concepts on how to apply the law,” said Ulloa.

The other five pillars included: boosting the country’s competitiveness; building levels of trust between all stakeholders; investing in infrastructure that would also assist metals and minerals exports; increasing information available for the mining sector, including geological mapping; and strengthening the ministry.    

Ulloa stressed that companies operating in Colombia needed to be transparent with government at both local and national levels, and engage early and often with local communities, especially with indigenous people.

Exploration and mining concessions were based on a first-come, first-served structure under the auspices of the country’s National Mining Agency. However, selected regions had been withdrawn for future auction, the processing of which was currently delayed.

“[Auctions] will come in the medium term. We selected areas with lots of potential because we want the best partners not just in mining but also in social and environmental matters,” said Ulloa.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Columbia Mines and Energy Minister Tomas Gonzalez resigned on Monday, stepping down on a failure to deliver energy savings. Colombia had been suffering droughts exacerbated by El Niño conditions, disrupting the country’s hydroelectric capacity that supplied around 70% of national power.

Ulloa stressed that mining companies should be confident of energy security, noting that the country had taken the necessary steps to ensure both energy and technical capacity was in place.

She also sought to clarify a February ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court that related to transferring mining titles in the country’s high-altitude páramos regions. These areas were deemed critical for Colombia’s water supply.

The country decided to prohibit all mining activities in the páramos regions in 2010, with the Ministry then seeking legal transition of the titles issued before that year through its 2015 National Development Plan.

“The Constitutional Court considered a transition unconstitutional because the rights of the miners were superseded by environmental rights,” she explained. Further clarification would now be sought.

According to Ulloa, the country was keen to bring its small-scale miners into the fold of best practice, particularly those mining without licences or permits but willing to seek government assistance.

However, criminal gangs and paramilitary organisations had also been engaged in illegal mining.

“Those who refuse to seek help, and those who continue working illegally or with paramilitaries and criminal gangs, will be treated with the strong hand of our military forces because we will never accept this. We will continue attacking those activities," said Ulloa.