Colombia hopes to start forming state company Ecominerales in H2

Colombian mining regulator ANM expects to begin forming state mining company Ecominerales in the second half of the year.

ANM president Álvaro Pardo said he hopes a bill to create the company will be debated in the first constitutional committee of congress in the coming days.

“This bill is very important. We are very hopeful that it will move forward in congress and in the second half we will dedicate ourselves to setting up the company,” Pardo said in an interview on the Avanza el Cambio program.

The bill, which can be downloaded in the Documents box in the top right of the screen, was sent to congress in December.

Among other aspects, the bill states that Ecominerales will have the objective of carrying out, in Colombia or abroad, exploration, construction, mining and marketing of strategic minerals and others, their derivatives and products aimed at the industrialization of the country, the energy transition, agricultural development and public infrastructure.

Pardo also said the government's program to formalize small and artisanal miners is advancing.

He said last year nearly 2,000 miners were formalized and that in a couple of weeks the largest formalization that has ever been done in the country will begin, involving 301 mining production units in six municipalities in lower Cauca.

Pardo added that in 2023 mining titles were withdrawn from some 400 concessionaires who did not comply with their obligations and the agency is analyzing where there is potential to grant these titles to miners who are in the process of formalization.

He said the titles will not be delivered to individual miners but to groups of miners who carry out informal activity and who can form cooperatives.

One of the objectives of creating Ecominerales is to support small miners in the process of formalization with training, financing and marketing programs, among others.