The Search for El Dorado : Monday 18th Feb

Unholy Alliances

It is some time now since gold was championed as the future of Colombia, the mountains and bars of Antioquia were awash with overseas geologists and venture capitalists all of which were, by coincidence, the best at what they do, with the most experience and the best project to sell to you. There were hopes of a Peruvian like situation whereby the royalties from the shiny stuff would be vehicle by which the country could finance the rebuild of crumbling infrastructure, perhaps even we could see the same listing of gold exploration companies in Bogota....it simply hasn't happened on any scale whatsoever....those same bars have seen profits drop, no-one has listed and the contribution of gold to GDP or Exports needs to be sought out using a magnifying glass. The reasons for this are many-fold but the largest by far is misunderstanding :

• The Government don't understand the business.

• The mining companies don't understand why their 21st century techniques and safety aren't received with open arms.

• The local communities don't understand the benefits.

• The mining sector doesn't understand that this cannot be a battle between right and left.

Everyone has rights in this game :

• If you bought your concession from the authorities you have the right to explore those areas.

• If you live in those areas you have the right to be protected from poor practices.

At the moment below the usual battle for hearts and minds that we find in any Latam country between the left and the right, across the region arguably the biggest battle is for the environment and community rights which somehow need to be balanced against the needs of community - at the moment there is no balance. Up until a week ago local communities had the right to hold local referendums to agree or block mining or infrastructure projects, they invariably voted no, perhaps for genuine environmental or social reasons but also because those driving the objections saw money to be made. That has now been removed but again there is no balance - equally as in Brazil or Peru where there are proposals to dam the upper reaches of the Amazon there needs to be balance. President Duque has now joined it appears an alliance with wood chopper Bolsonaro and Alaskan oil man Trump with his decisions to back both the end of local referendums and to move forward with fracking on an exploratory basis - in the case of the first two examples these are global warming deniers, oddly enough so are so many on the right and within the extractive sector - in the case of Duque here in Colombia the hard right has long since been the patron of the mining sector and his choice is limited. This is not to say mining shouldn't be a major force in Colombia it absolutely should, the safety record alone dictates they should be here, they bring world class knowledge, investment and of course jobs but it needs direction and also to clean up its image in front of the local populace, have they done anything wrong - not particularly but perception is reality and they are viewed with enormous suspicion.

The hope....

Hidroituango is Colombia's versions of Apollo 13 - it has turned into a recovery mission as the politicians try to claim victory but it is still a disaster that threatened the lives of 100,000 people - and according to many seasoned engineers and geologists should never have been built. This is a multi billion dollar public relations disaster that may or may not function and still no-one as been fired - admitting failure apparently not an option but the legal authorities may say differently. Why then would the mining community jump on the band-wagon defending the dam and all the damage caused - any comments against the project are put down as some sort of communist conspiracy as opposed to being from someone who lives a few kilometers downstream of a potential 150 metre tsunami. Could it be that after the fatal Brazilian tragedies at Mariana in 2015 and the recent one at Brumadinho caused by the sector they feel obligated to jump in and defend anything related to dams because beyond that there is no thread of logic to get involved. The mining sector is living in a left v's right bubble - or as long as they continue that way little is going to get achieved - Petro is their enemy along with the FARC and the ELN, it is simply a misnomer, the soft left will sooner or later come to power in Colombia, demographics dictate that and if the mining sector continues to paint itself into a political corner there will be little or no progress. Equally the far more numerous right wing paramilitary groups cause just as much damage to the environment and as per narcotics their participation in destructive illegal mining is significant. The Mining Ministry has failed to act in over a decade, leaving the communities and mining companies to battle it out but that simple cannot continue if there is to be progress and a Peruvian like expansion to be embraced. There needs to be a national mining assembly, this is also valid for other extractive or infrastructure projects, which includes the Government, opposition politicians, international miners, local artisanal miners, academics and community leaders. The frustration of mining companies is wholly understandable but also so are the fears of local communities, the press almost weekly reports on a mining issues somewhere in the third world - everyone has claim for various reasons but unless everyone takes a step back in 20 years time Colombia will be where it is right now...except poorer.

The Fear