The Costa Rican authorities in the mining sector have declined the request to reopen the Bellavista gold mine by the Canadian company B2 Gold, arguing that the act would be contrary to the national moratorium on mining.
The firm aims to revive gold mining in the area, which was suspended in 2007 after a landslide polluted the surrounding waters, reports Nacion.com.
Uriel Juarez, national secretary for environment, explained that B2 Gold presented a preliminary environmental assessment, but this has not even been looked at because "it cannot legally procede" For his part, Donald Brown, Bellavista mine manager and representative of Processed Metals M. R. W., B2 Gold’s Costa Rican partner, what is happening is that they are not "understanding".
Brown believes that this project does not come under the moratorium declared by Decree 36 019-Minaet, because they are reviving an old plan. "The award is still valid and the resolution they sent us talks about respect for the moratorium. This is for new projects and we are not presenting a new project," he said.
Source: Nacion.com
More on this topic
May 2011
The Canadian mining company is looking for new land for the installation of a processing plant.
Production at the mine has been paralyzed since 2007, when a landslide caused damage to the gold mining zone and affected the factory’s processing.
Donald Brown, Bellavista mine manager and representative of Metals Processed M.R.
April 2010
Canadian mining corporation Condor Resources has been granted a 25 year exploration and mining concession in Nicaragua.
The 22.5 kilometer area is located in La Libertad – Santo Domingo, and adds to Condor’s 5 existing concessions in the country.
From Proactiveinvestors.com: “According to Condor, the Cerro Quiroz vein was discovered in 2003 by Canadian explorer Chesapeake Gold Corp (TSX-V: CKG) which defined a north-south trending quartz vein grading up to 17.8 grams per tonne gold over more than 1500 metres strike length”.
June 2009
The company B2Gold Corp. could acquire up to 65% of the gold and copper mining project NEN.
The gold and copper mining Project NEN, currently property of Canadian Calibre Mining Corp, is located on the North Atlantic side of Nicaragua, and covers 70,976 hectares.
B2Gold Corp executed a letter of intent, through which it could acquire 51% of the project by making an investment of $7 million on exploration and other projects before 2012 and an additional 14% in a selected area of the project upon completion of the preliminary feasibility studies.
May 2010
Canadian corporation B2Gold invested $54 million to reopen the gold mine located in the province of Chontales.
B2Gold plans to extract 90.000 gold ounces a year, generating exports for approximately $85 million.
Emilio Rappaccioli, Energy Minister, commented that the new mine will double the country’s mining production, making gold the second or third most important export product.
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