The Energy Mining Planning Unit, UPME, published a preliminary document in which it analyzes the scenarios for the development of copper in Colombia and in the list of priorities is the mining project Soto North, that the multinational Minesa advances.
Outside the area of biotic influence of the Soto Norte Project, there is the Santurbn-Berlin area of mooring. However, the Soto Norte project is not intercepted with areas exclusive to mining activity, indicates the document that was first known by Blu Radio.
According to the data that UPME collected with different government entities there is a clear spatial separation between extractive activity and areas called as nature reserves Pramo Regional National Park of Santurbn and Sisavita Regional National Park (see image).
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However, this technical concept given by the UPME raised blisters in the Committee for the Defense and Water of the Pramo de Santurbn, which questioned the position of the entity calling it a counter-edifening the policies of the government of Gustavo Petro .
We are concerned that government institutions are acting as islands and do not take into account government policy, that they do not take into account the citizenry or the technical concepts that have been issued. We expect the UPME, attached to the Ministry of Mines, "It is consistent with what the government has been establishing and what the citizenry has demanded," said Hernn Morantes, leader of the Santurbn Committee.
Copper is one of the strategic minerals for Colombia amid the goal of accelerating the energy transition. The electrification of the economy requires tons of key and in the country there is only one mine that produces El Roble. The other copper projects in Colombia have had all sorts of problems and have not begun to produce. The Soto Norte mining title allows both gold and copper to be exploited, but the company still has no environmental license to start operations.
Among the recommendations of the UPME to the Government on copper is to recognize that in many of the mayors and entities of the municipalities where the five large ones are there is no technical, financial and administrative capacity to accompany the projects or manage the demands of those who consider themselves affected by them because they are of the sixth category.
In addition, the Government is invited to "promote training in higher education, associated with the mining and extraction industry, is essential in the territories where projects of national interest could be carried out for the exploitation of copper and its concentrates, such as: Quebradona, Soto Norte, San Matas and Mocoa, the entity said.
The delimitation of the Santurbn moor has advanced, but it is not completely finished. For example, in the municipality of California (epicentro de Soto Norte) there is already an agreement with the community on which line the moor starts. However, 20 municipalities are still missing to close the agreement before the delimitation is official.
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