New Ministers, New Attitude Towards Mining The replacement of mining unfriendly ministers is showing a whole new attitude towards mining companies according to recent translated statements posted below. This should spur investment and development that can only help GWY going forward.FULL SPEED A HEAD FOR NEW MINING MINISTER BOGOTA - Colombia seeks to ensure that projects related to gold mining and coal others to move "full speed" to encourage the production and income of the government, said Minister of Mines and Energy, Mauricio Cárdenas.Colombia wants to ensure the growth of its mining industry is on par with the increasing investment in oil production by favoring projects that meet environmental and social standards without delay, Cardenas said in an interview, while he refused to name specific projects ."Several of these projects are pretty solid and I need to move forward, and do so at full speed", said Cardenas, who is 49 years old, at his offices in Bogota. "Not all these projects get green light, only those who are sound."President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia attracted investment from companies such as OGX Oil Gas Participacoes SA of Eike Batista and Grupo Carso SAB de Carlos Slim to weaken the guerrillas and open new areas of exploration amid growing global demand for energy and gold.The higher gold prices led to Milton Rodriguez, a member of a Senate committee that oversees natural resources, and other legislators to push tax increases to mining companies.Colombia should work on the implementation of recent changes in the way the government distributes revenues from mining, and not change the tax rates, Cardenas said."I do not think it's the right time," he said.Cardenas, who was director of the Brookings Institute in Washington, DC, took office last month. Previously served in government positions, such as transport minister and director of National Planning, according to the website of the government.Among the companies seeking to develop mining projects in Colombia include AUX Canada Acquisition Inc. Batista this year he bought control of Ventana Gold Corp. to have gold deposits in Colombia. In May, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., gold producer whose largest shareholder is billionaire John Paulson, said the development of Colosa mine in Colombia is delayed by rising costs and a slow permitting process.Opposition to mining in a watershed area slowed the development of a mining project of $ 1.000 billion to extract gold from Oro Eco Minerals Corp., formerly called Greystar Resources Ltd. The company in March withdrew permit applications for the Angostura mine, with the argument that a smaller project planned to take into account environmental issues.