President
Chinchilla Signs
Decree Banning
Open Pit Mining
The long-delayed
Crucitas mining
project that won
the approval of
Costa Rica's
high court a few
weeks back will
have to wait
another four
year or more,
following the
signing of a
decree banning
open-pit mining
in Costa Rica,
her first act as
president on
Saturday.
The decree
indefinitely
suspends "the
exploration,
extraction and
processing of
the materials
extracted
through the use
of cyanide and
mercury."
It also repeals
an executive
order by former
President Oscar
Arias which
established an
environmental
safeguard for
mining in the
country and
spelled out the
environmental
regulations for
mining.
Presidential
spokesman Carol
Roversi said
gold mining is
not profitable
enough to
sacrifice the
environmental
aspect of a
country which
depends heavily
on environmental
tourism, a $2
billion-a-year
source of
revenue.
In 2002 then
President Abel
Pacheco issued a
presidential
decree banning
open-pit mining
in Costa Rica.
At the time,
Pacheco
declared, "We
have many
reasons for
rescinding these
[gold mining]
contracts, and
if they sue us
for compensation
it will be
cheaper than
paying for the
loss of the
country and its
environment."
But his
successor,
President Arias,
a Nobel Peace
Prize winner and
economist,
overturned the
ban when he
assumed the
office of
president,
declaring
Infinito Gold's Crucitas in the
country's
national
interest.
Last month the
Constitutional
Court
ruled that
challenges to
the granting of
permits allowing
for the
development of Infinito Gold's
Crucitas project
were without
merit and that
the US$66
million gold
project should
resume.
Nevertheless,
the project
remains tied up
in court after
Costa Rica's
Administrative
Contention
Tribunal decided
that the public
interest in
protecting the
environment must
prevail. The
Tribunal claims
the favorable
ruling of the
Supreme Court
was a basic or
summary
decision. Until
the complete,
detailed
decision can be
reviewed, the
Tribunal said
the injunction
to halt mining
activities would
continue.
Construction
activity was
suspended at the
mine site in
October 2008.
Infinito's
largest
shareholder is
reportedly
Canadian
billionaire Ron
Mannix, a former
coal company
executive with
family interests
in oil, gas and
mining.
Located near the
border of
Nicaragua,
Crucitas will be
Costa Rica's
first major gold
mine with a
capacity to
produce 85,000
ounces of gold
annually and an
indicated
resource of 1.2
million ounces
of gold.
However,
environmentalists
fear the mine
operator would
cut down virgin
forest which
includes trees
that are home to
the endangered
great green
macaw and other
rare birds.
Others fear
cyanide could
leak into the
San Juan River,
which crosses
both Costa Rica
and Nicaragua. |
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