Authorities did not attend public hearing on gold mine in Marmato

The public hearing, convened to socialize and evaluate the expansion and deepening project of the gold mine in Marmato, requested by the multinational Aris Mining S.A.S., was held without the presence of the competent environmental authority.

This was denounced by the organization Fuerzas Vivas Marmato, which groups indigenous people of the Embera Chami community; Afro population; members of the National Union of Workers of the Mining, Petrochemical, Agro-fuel, and Energy Industry (Sintramienergética); workers of the Aris Mining Union, small miners, and the population of the municipality of Marmato, in the department of Caldas.

You may be interested in: In Canada, 3 out of 10 favor allowing “euthanasia” for reasons of poverty

Although the organizers expected the presence of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the entity that has decision-making power in environmental matters, the ministry did not participate in the event. The governor of Caldas and the department’s deputies were also absent.

The situation increased the community’s concern about the risks they perceive with the expansion of the gold mine in Marmato and the absence of a written record of what happened during the hearing.

According to Fuerzas Vivas Marmato, Corpocaldas will send in five working days the documentation of the hearing, along with the papers presented by the community and the company, so so far there is no record of what happened at the meeting.

At the moment, among the entities that participated in the public hearing were the Caldas Regional Autonomous Corporation (Corpocaldas); the National Mining Agency, with engineer Óscar Darío Pérez; a student intern representing the Ombudsman’s Office and authorities from Marmato such as the municipal ombudsman and Mayor Carlos Yesid Castro Marín. There were also representatives of Aris Mining.

Other authorities that should have been guarantors at the public hearing that could affect the future of the gold mine in Marmato and the Marmato population, and who did not attend, were the Ministry of Environment, Ideam, the Attorney General’s Office for Environmental and Agrarian Affairs and regional authorities.

The debate focuses on La Maruja mine expansion

Gold mining activities in Marmato date back more than four centuries, when the indigenous people of the territory exploited the mine. Subsequently, control of the activity was left in the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. Since then, mining activities have continued.

According to Fuerzas Vivas Marmato, the most recent exploitation of the mine has been controlled by several companies. For which the national government has granted mining licenses to Caldas Gold, then Medoro Resources, Gran Colombia Gold, and Aris Mining.

The current problem is that the Canadian company Aris Mining, after buying the mining title from Gran Colombia Gold, is requesting an expansion of the La Maruja Marmato Deep Zone mine. This company also has operations in the Segovia gold mine (Antioquia) and in Guyana.

You may also be interested in: No more talk of gasoline and diesel subsidies

What does Fuerzas Vivas Marmato say?

Fuerzas Vivas Marmato states that this is not an expansion of the gold mine in Marmato, but a request for a new environmental license, since the place where the company wants to drill is located more than one kilometer from the current La Maruja mine, near the Hospital, a daycare center and the urban center in general.

According to a statement issued by Fuerzas Vivas Marmato, “the deepening and expansion project of the La Maruja mine is located in the jurisdiction of the El Llano and Echandía villages, in a rural area of the municipality of Marmato, department of Caldas, in the area of mining title 014-89M with an extension of 952.58 hectares”.

The organization points out that in order to develop this project, it is necessary to increase gold production and open new levels of exploitation in the deep zones of the mine, which is why it is necessary to modify the environmental management plan:

“Taking into account that the mine would increase its production from 1,200 to 4,000 t/d (1.46 Mt/year), which requires the opening and development of new levels of exploitation located in the deep zone of the mine between 1,000 and 480 m above sea level and the adaptation of new areas for mining and support infrastructure, it is necessary to modify the Environmental Management Plan, whose works and activities that are the subject of the request include:

• La Maruja mining area – LM ( subterranean)
• Los Indios Platform for the Beneficiation Plant and its mining supports
• Powder magazine platform
• Access roads to the platforms
• Pipelines
• Platform – raw water treatment plant
• Use of the Los Indios ventilation tunnel in the operation stage for the circulation of machinery and equipment in the extraction”.

Potential impacts of the gold mine expansion project in Marmato

Among the impacts of the project that the community foresees is air pollution due to the excavation of soil and the consequent emission of contaminated gases. In addition, the project requires the construction of infrastructure to allow locomotive traffic in the area near sectors of Marmato such as Ubarba and El Tejar.

Additionally, Fuerzas Vivas Marmato believes that the landscape will be irreparably affected, as will the change in land use and occupation patterns, the alteration of public infrastructure, and cultural changes, among others.

The organization states that there is also an imminent risk of increased land instability due to vibrations from subway blasting and the alteration of the Cauca riverbed and the Los Indios and Amolador streams.

Among the main impacts described by Fuerzas Vivas Marmato, there is also the negative impact on the topsoil, associated with the construction of waste dumps, and the affectation of the tropical dry forest in the area.

In light of this situation, the organization is awaiting the document that comes out of the public hearing and will continue to insist that the national authorities make a public statement in response to the complaints made by the population Marmato.

Read more: Food imports are responsible for 65% of inflation: Minister of Agriculture