BOGOTA, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – The Colombian government on Monday shot
down a small town’s attempt to block a multinational mining company from opening a gold mine there, saying a residents’ referendum held no legal weight.
Fearing water pollution and the destruction of local forests, some
6,000 residents of Cajamarca, in central Colombia, voted against the mine on Sunday, 98 percent to 1.2 percent.
But Mining Minister German Arce sought to send a reassuring message
to the South Africa-based firm pursuing the project, AngloGold Ashanti.
“Exploration licenses retain their validity,” he said in a radio
interview.
The license has already been granted, and “the (courts) have been very
precise about the fact that such (referendum) decisions do not apply
retroactively,” he said.
The minister also accused opponents of the mine of running a
“disinformation” campaign, and downplayed the environmental risk.
“We’re not talking about an open-air mine here. Nor are there a
hundred rivers at risk,” he said.
AngloGold Ashanti’s project in the Tolima region is still in the
exploratory phase.