Colombia holding talks with communities to advance new mining code

Colombia’s mines and energy ministry plans to hold talks with small mining communities and those affected by the industry until February, with a view to presenting a new mining code to congress.

"We are going to carry out a participatory process to draw up that mining code," said minister Irene Vélez. "A new mining code commits us all to a common goal and that is that mining should be for life and not for death."

The current mining code has been in force for 21 years and the government of Gustavo Petro has said it will be a priority to update it to face the new challenges of the industry, betting on formalization with opportunities for ancestral and artisanal mining, especially indigenous communities.

Vélez recently said the current code ignores subsistence mining and gives more guarantees to large companies, so there are small miners who have not been able to formalize or access titles and has a result illegal mining has flourished.