El Salvador hears call for mining ban

Metallic mining should be banned in El Salvador to avoid environmental damage and human rights violations, the government's environment commission heard.

The country is not an appropriate jurisdiction for mining due to its degraded environment and vulnerability to natural disasters, Andres McKinley of the Central American university José Simeón Cañas told the commission, citing studies conducted by the university.

Development of a metallic mining industry in El Salvador would bring minimal benefits and increase human rights violations, he added, urging the commission to prohibit the activity.

His comments were welcomed as opportune by commission president Guillermo Mata, of the ruling left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), following anti-mining sentiment expressed by religious, academic and community groups.

While mining is not prohibited in El Salvador, no exploitation permits have been approved since 2005, congressman Johnny Wright of the nationalist republican alliance (ARENA) party said, backing the call for a full mining ban.

El Salvador President Salvador Sánchez Cerén pledged to ban mining in the country in 2014.

Last year the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) threw out an arbitration claim against El Salvador by OceanaGold relating to the denial of a mining license for its El Dorado gold-silver project in the country.