ANLA's decision does not mean the end of the Soto Norte https://hablemosdemineria.com/2020/10/decision-la-anla-no-significa-final-del-proyecto-soto-norte/
According to the president of the mining union, the company in charge of the project filed its study for discussion with the environmental authority in January 2017 and provided additional information in January 2018.
However, Anla considered that the information is not enough to continue with the environmental impact study, so " it has not said that this project is or is not environmentally viable in that territory ." What he said is that more information is needed to fully study whether it has impacts on the environment .
And regarding the technical discussion of the viability of the project, he affirmed that the authority "is the only one that gives guarantees, the licensing is given with a deep analysis" , however, "it should have less time".
It is worth remembering that this Saturday, Anla ordered the filing of the administrative procedure for the environmental license "of the Soto Norte Underground Exploitation of Auroargentiferous Minerals project . "
In the project evaluation process, the environmental authority requested additional information from Sociedad Minera de Santander, which was analyzed by Anla's technical team after it was delivered .
This evaluation, as explained by the authority, was made by more than thirty professionals from different disciplines , experts in geology, hydrogeology, geotechnics, geochemistry, air quality, among others, and had the support of five professionals from the Faculty of Mines of the National University, based in Medelln.
The reactivation of the mining sector in the country
On the other hand, the president of the ACM explained on Tuesday that the mining projectors “ can add up to about $ 2.8 billion that will reach Antioquia and other regions, and they also generate about 22,000 new jobs . In 2018, the Colombian mining sector was linked with small and medium-sized companies in a figure close to $ 13 billion ”.
Regarding the production of metal ores, said that "Colombia is not a major producer like he is Chile, Peru, and even Panama.", S ITUATION that can change "in recent months and the first months of 2021 with projects copper and gold , which add investments close to US $ 2,800 million ”.
Once they are finished, along with the entry into operation of Continental Gold, according to Nario, "some 650,000 additional ounces of gold in production will be injected into the economy . "
Currently, the country produces 1.2 million ounces each year, of which the formal production linked to medium-sized companies is close to 350,000 ounces.
Regarding the copper production projections, he affirmed that Colombia is not a producer either, since it has a mine that produces 10 million tons per year.
"To reach a greener world, copper mining is needed, which is an essential factor for the conception of electricity generation in mobility," he said.
Regarding coal, Nario assured that Colombia in 2017 exported and produced 90 million tons of coal, this year it will reach 50 million tons, so that in two years the country will lose the ability to generate foreign currency worth 40 million tons of this raw material, "which is a very big fiscal drama, since this represents almost US $ 1,300 million of Colombian sales abroad, something close to $ 300,000 million in royalties and taxes , so part of the reactivation 2021 economic should start from the analysis of how we are going to recover what could not be exported in 2020 ”.