questions and answers
Regarding gold extraction, what is Santander's potential?
Santander has the particularity that it has a very traditional gold mining activity in the province of Soto Norte, and it is the opportunity to carry out mining projects of different scales, from small to large. This should be done prioritizing environmental standards, protection of sources and that is not in protected areas, but that also be allowed to take advantage of that opportunity that is presented at this time of gold as an asset that could speak of recovery.
But is it still an activity that is not widely accepted, mainly with large-scale mining?
The National Government wants to make projects of all sizes, which comply with the protection of the environment. We invite the people of Santander to discuss it within the framework of the environmental licensing processes, which assesses these possible impacts and that we all have the peace of mind that projects can be carried out with the protection of the environment.
What will that mining and protection of the Pramo de Santurbn be like?
It must be recognized that mining activity has existed for the last 400 years in the province and always protecting the environment. The inhabitants there have been the main guardians of the paramo, and their vocation and work has been mining, and they have done a great job of formalizing and environmental licensing, secondly mining does not go in protected areas.
What will happen to the miners that could be within the new delimitation of the Pramo de Santurbn, defined by the Ministry of Environment?
In this process we have participated providing technical and legal mining information, and the social impact it has, we hope it will be information that is taken into account. When determining the delimitation of the pramo, if there are miners remaining within it, the Ministry of Mines will provide support to carry out the corresponding closure processes and all labor counterclaims. It is an obligation and commitment of the portfolio.
In economic terms, what will be the benefits for Santander?
If the environmental license is given to the Minesa project, it is estimated that it would bring investments of US $ 1.2 billion, 4 thousand direct and indirect jobs, and between taxes and royalties it would generate between US $ 200 million a year, through the useful route.
Additionally, we work with small-scale mining, not only of gold, but also of construction materials and we develop a legality strategy. It is an activity that will have an impact on the macro and micro.
Is there already an answer from the environmental license to Minesa?
They are complying with the terms and revisions, they have technical instances and it would be Anla that will give details of those dates.
What if the same thing happened with Minesa with Eco Oro? (The delimitation affected them, they could not carry out the activity and they sued the country)
The licensing processes have to take into account the protected areas, and Anla is taking these aspects into account in accordance with the proposal made by Minesa.
What progress has been made with the international demand for Eco Oro?
This process is in demand and is handled by the State Legal Defense Agency, but the process has not been defined yet.
fact
Gold production in the first quarter of 2020 increased 7% compared to the same period of the previous year, going from 8.9 tons to 9.5 tons