Paromo de Santurban - The outcome? …is still pending and, meanwhile, the following article offers a good summary of the current debate and the various interests in place…
https://insomne.info/opinion/inicio/opinion/paramo-de-santurban-a-merced-de-la-gran-mineria (for google
approximate translation – see below)
I have to admit that CBJ bullboard is quite silent, while most of the posts are to be found, for instance, on the EOM bullboard, where some are rolling the dices and mention has been made that CBJ would be the
Sacrificial lamb – I do not entirely share this point of view but I do not exclude this possibility neither…
In this regard (and amongst others), mention should be made that CBJ has 10 Properties / Mines: 1 exploration, 7 exploitations and 2 Mining Concessions (6 approved environmental management plans) and Lumina Capital as shareholder… So, CBJ should not be an easy Sacrificial Lamb…
As far as the outcomes are concerned, I will simplify and present 3 scenarios:
- Best Case Scenario: CBJ is not affected by the Paramo, continues his business as usual, the NI43-101 Resource Report is published by end of 2013 and the share price makes a spectacular comeback…
- Medium Case Scenario: CBJ is within the limit of the Paramo (the surface of the Paramo seems to be larger than the limit of the Park!) but may further proceed with their activities, pending higher royalties, taxes and environmental regulation. The NI43-101 Resource Report will have to be updated to take those new parameters into consideration and will show a lower return / value.
- Worst Case Scenario: any mining activity is suspended! But even in this case and since Colombia signed a free trade agreement with Canada (transferring the sovereignty of national courts to private foreign arbitration courts), CBJ will have the possibility to request indemnities for the investments done so far (around 60 Mio) and will have a high chance to recover part of those investments… However, even if the litigation should be more rapidly settled in front of arbitration courts than in front of national courts, some months / years / patience would be required.
I have absolutely no idea about the chances attached to each of the above (or any other) scenario – and I doubt than anyone has! Patience remains the key…
Article Translation
If transnational mining companies get away with theirs , Colombians not only going to be troubled but lying , as the water , which is worth more than gold will be lost to pollution
" If all factors are considered , may soon be leaving it more profitable to exploit these resources buried " Nicholas Stern.
The Santurbán moor is located in the departments of Norte de Santander ( 72%) and Santander ( 28 % ) , with an area of 150,000 hectares ( ha) , between 2800 and 4290 meters above the sea. The main environmental service generation Santurbán is water that feeds the aqueducts of 48 municipalities to 2.2 million Colombians. The moor has a huge wealth of flora , especially the wide variety of mosses , which capture the water and feeding the lakes and watersheds of the moor , in wildlife, such as deer and condors , and enviable rich landscape .
On January 8 was declared the Regional Natural Park Paramo de Santurbán by the Autonomous Regional Corporation for the Defence of the Meseta de Bucaramanga ( CMDB ), with 11,700 ha, to be protected from all kinds of activity, mining or farming . The Environment Minister Juan Gabriel Uribe conservative , said that " in the park there will be no such projects ." ( ' Declaration on Santurbán is part of a state policy ' , eltiempo.com , 09/01/2013 ) .
While some applaud the move, others, such as Santander Fenalco director , Luis Alfonso Gomez, criticized the small size of the park because "it is a mockery to the interests of the citizens of the region and it seems a move in favor of multinationals interested in gold mining " . ( ' Santurbán already a park, along with the doubts ' , eltiempo.com , 08/01/2013 ) . Meanwhile, TIME columnist Andres Hurtado , a true environmentalist walk and desktop , and had calculated that the extension of the park would be at least 20,000 hz .
However, 9612.22 ( 82.1 % ) of the 11,700 ha that make up the park has the mining in the hands of " multinationals, domestic companies and individuals ." Among the former are the companies Eco -Gold , Greystar before ( Canadian ), with 6199.84 ha and seven mining titles , and the Continental Gold , with 1004.82 ha. ( ' With mining stocks , 82% Santurbán Park , eltiempo.com , 09/01/2013 ) . Although it is said that these companies and others are in the exploration phase , others argue that they are already exploiting , and that have environmental licenses , but the National Agency of Environmental Licenses ( Anla ) denies .
In addition, the large mining is overlapping in communities, and in the municipality of streaks , where they have lived in the wilderness and do agricultural work and animal husbandry to find a way to legitimize their activity through the defense of the interests of these communities. Cesar Diaz Guerrero , president of the Colombian Chamber of Mines , said to be the area " a region with mining tradition for over 400 years , the Government must assess how socioeconomic variables manage not to harm the productive sector of Santurbán , gold also needs where farming and raising cattle. " ( eltiempo.com , 09.01.2013 ) . Similarly, the director of the CDMB " ensures that mining companies are meeting their environmental obligations " ( ' Growing controversy over mining in Santurbán ' elespectador.com , 24/09/2012 ) .
The Eco -Gold company said in a statement, not without veiled threats regarding the ban on mining in the park Santurbán , that " to the extent that the company can not make use of these assets , seek proper compensation and reasonable manner . " ( ' The entanglement Santurbán titles ' , elespectador.com , 18/01/2013 ) . This means that the country will face economic demands in private international arbitration courts , since Colombia signed a free trade agreement with Canada , which transferred the sovereignty of national courts to private foreign courts .
The Minister Juan Gabriel Uribe defends the compatibility between mining and the environment , in the very peculiar form of responsible mining corporate " policies should be established corporate social responsibility, environmental reporting , internationally recognized as the Global Reporting Initiative ( GRI ) , and generally , the application of self-management and self-regulation instruments already implemented in countries like Canada , USA , Australia , South Africa , Chile and some Nordic countries " ( ' Great mining vs. environment eltiempo.com , 30-11-2012 ) .
Consider, for curiosity , the experience of a Nordic country , Finland. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel , " the mining companies are coming in northern Finland to new deposits of gold, nickel and other minerals that promise huge profits. However, the ecosystem fragile wetland area is paying the price . " The problem is so severe that the meeting of bishops of the Lutheran Church " has agreed to Northern Finland should not be reduced to a" colony "whose natural resources are plundered by international companies, without regard to the environment " ( Renate Nimtz - Köster : ' Mining Companies Swarm to Finland 's Far North ' , derspiegel.com , 2-11-2012) What do our bishops ?
The declaration of the park was achieved through the mobilization of citizens Santander national defense and moor against the project by Canada's Greystar to establish an open pit mine , which has been changed to an underground mine . However, underground mining does not change anything about the dangers of water pollution , and the park will become a kind of Swiss cheese full of holes. This was expressed by the former director of the Chamber of Commerce of Santander Ergwin Rodríguez- Salah , who would not go wrong in defending Santurbán wasteland : " The problem is that once I have income to the mountain , so I can access groundwater what you want. I can make galleries up, down, anywhere . Why we have said on numerous occasions that we run the risk that we leave a shell of wasteland . That is a concern we have . ( ' Locomotive mining is ill-conceived ' , elespectador.com , 14/01/2013).
If transnational mining companies get away with theirs , exploiting the gold , in the natural park of Santurbán , Colombians not only going to be troubled but lying , with a royalty ' Pichurrias ' ( 4% ) , while the water , which is worth more that gold is going to lose to pollution.