ANM: Commitment about Formalization for SubcontractsReport from the ANM webpage, dated with August 11, 2021:
https://www.anm.gov.co/?q=gracias-a-la-apuesta-de-formalizacion-160-familias-mineras-en-california-santander-se-beneficiaran-de-una-actividad-mineria-legal ----------
The formalization subcontract generates direct and indirect jobs and the creation of a solidarity fund to carry out enterprises and social responsibility programs in the municipality.
August 11, 2021.
Thanks to the support and inter-institutional direction of the Ministry of Mines, the National Mining Agency (ANM), the USAID Legal Gold program, the Universidad del Rosario, the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga (Unab), the University of Santander (Udes), Fedemunicipios and the Sena, it was possible to advance a mining formalization subcontract in the department of Santander.
For more than three years with a participatory approach, Calimineros and Minesa jointly built the conditions that govern the development of formal mining in the municipality of California, Santander, under the scheme of a mining formalization subcontract, thus preserving more than 450 years of tradition in the municipality of California where mining is the main source of income.
This agreement includes a technical and administrative support that will be permanent to ensure that the project is developed in compliance with the laws, and especially, environmental and health and safety regulations at work.
“This is a significant process for the country, as it is an example of coordination and mutual support between large mining companies and small miners, in addition, it provides a positive and encouraging message for those areas where there is conflict between owners and small miners , since the figure of formalization subcontract turns out to be a legal instrument to solve the conflict in the area and that both the owner and the small miner can develop their activities independently and with division of technical, environmental and mining safety obligations ", said the president of the ANM, Juan Miguel Durn Prieto.
It should be noted that, under this modality, each party is responsible for its project and the obligations that arise, and the owner will not lose or divide his mining title, the title continues to belong to the concessionaire, there will only be fractionation or division against the technical, environmental and safety obligations arising from mining exploitation.
For the mining authority, the role of private companies and the territories is fundamental and decisive to achieve the formalization of small mining in Colombia, because to achieve the materialization of the mining policy led by the Colombian Government, economic resources are required, acceptance on the part of the territories and the commitment of the miners to carry out their activities under the protection of a legal entity and complying with all technical, environmental and mining safety regulations.
Likewise, the mining owners play a fundamental role in several of the figures that exist to contribute to the formalization of small miners, since it is from their initiative and will that processes such as the return of areas for formalization and the mining formalization subcontracts such as the one advanced in the municipality of California, Santander; They are tools that are designed to support the definitive solution for small miners who carry out their activities in titled areas.
On the other hand, it should be noted that in order to develop mining activity under the different existing legal figures, the development and presentation of technical and environmental instruments is required, instruments that require economic investment, and it is in these cases where mining owners have supported a decisive way for small miners, because through different agreements, they have been able to provide financial resources or support in terms of knowledge and suitable personnel that these large companies have to support small miners in the construction of technical tools and environmental
"The mining activity must have social support, that the different territories feel this activity as their own, that they feel that it can be carried out in a responsible manner and that it can return many benefits to the community," said President Durn.
The challenges of mining in the territories are aimed at consolidating the activity of small and medium-sized mining as sustainable projects and generators of productive, social and environmental value, duly structured, planned and legally conceived, focusing the regions towards economic growth under an entrepreneurial mindset that allows building a favorable environment and consolidating a solid and competitive business fabric.
Taking the above into account, the work plan is now beginning for Calimineros to present its Environmental Impact Study to the Regional Autonomous Corporation (CDMB) to obtain its environmental license and start the operation process.
It should be mentioned that, in this sense, the ANM coordinates, together with the Regional Autonomous Corporations (CAR), support activities and environmental technical assistance for mining, taking into account the biodiversity and the supply of environmental goods and services of the territory in which it is located. is developing the activity. Likewise, the coordination of actions for the access, management, exchange and updating of mining-environmental information in the jurisdiction of the CAR and the joint monitoring of the mining titles in force and registered in the National Mining Registry.
In this measure, through the inter-administrative agreements that the National Mining Agency advances with the Regional Autonomous Corporations, it seeks advances in the environmental sustainability of the country, the incorporation and development of the mining issue in the strategic lines of the Regional Environmental Management Plan prepared by the Regional Autonomous Corporations, strengthen environmental monitoring, planning and ordering in territorial management, and the promotion of mining exploitation with criteria of environmental responsibility, should direct joint efforts to ensure that the mining sector is strengthened as a responsible sector, both environmentally and socially and leads to sustainable, innovative development poles that reduce environmental impacts.
Likewise, through the preparation and implementation of Social Management Plans, it is sought that the mining owners respond to the needs of the communities in the prevention and mitigation of social risks and in this way, generate a positive impact on the community and, above all , in the sustainability of the territories.
“Betting on the legality, mining, technical, environmental and social safety of our mining activity is a responsibility that we all have with our country, with the lives of our miners and with the environment, these aspects should not be negotiable, we must to bet on a well-done mining, as this will generate tranquility and well-being for all, starting with our small miners, in addition to this we will mitigate the environmental impacts that may derive from the development of the mining activity, ”said the ANM executive.
The approval and annotation of the subcontract in California, Santander will be the first part to bring more than 160 miners to formality, after this the tasks continue including the preparation and presentation of the Complementary Works and Works Program (PTOC) and the instrument environmental protection that will protect the subcontract, the mining authority will be providing all the technical advice that is required and once these instruments are in place, the miners will be beneficiaries of a differential inspection.
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yellow marking added by me.