El Salvador environment committee approves mining ban

A bill banning metallic mining in El Salvador was approved by the congressional environment and climate change committee.

The bill includes 11 articles which prohibit surface, underground and seafloor metallic mining, according to a release on the congress website.

The ban will be retroactive, meaning that once it is in force, all previous agreements regarding metallic exploration and exploitation will be canceled.

The bill is supported by environmental, community and church groups, and has the backing of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, due to the risk of pollution from mining activities and particularly of water resources.

The economy ministry will be tasked with the closure of former metallic mines and reclamation of affected land, the release states.

ARTISANAL MINERS

A clause allows artisanal miners to continue small-scale operations for two years after the bill becomes law. This clause is aimed at giving artisanal miners time to find alternative employment, with financial and technical support offered by the government.

Non-metallic mining, such as quarrying, will be allowed to continue, according to a previous congressional release.

Committee president Guillermo Mata said: "This is an historic afternoon because we have been able to reach consensus on a bill that will benefit our nation, and importantly there was unanimous agreement on the ban on metallic mining."

The committee will debate further clauses of the bill next week.

Metallic mining projects in El Salvador include OceanaGold's El Dorado gold-silver property.