Salvador: First green light for the law on the revival of mining

A parliamentary committee in El Salvador issued a “favorable opinion” on Saturday to a bill which will lift the ban on mining in force since 2017 and which will be put to a vote on Monday.

After meeting, the Technology, Tourism and Investments Committee said it “deemed it appropriate to issue a favorable opinion on the approval of the general law on metal mining”.

El Salvador was the first country in the world to ban any license or concession for open-air or underground metal mines in 2017, as well as the use of toxic chemicals such as cyanide or mercury.

“Extract and process the country’s natural wealth”

But President Nayib Bukele, elected in 2019, wants to repeal the law in order to launch calls for tenders to benefit, according to him, from “the highest density in the world” of gold deposits.

His party has an ultra-majority in Parliament where the law will be put to a vote on Monday in plenary session.

The bill provides that the State will be “the only one authorized to explore, exploit, extract and process the country's natural wealth, the product of the exploitation of metal mines”.

“The lack of public debate”

The text also includes “the ban on the use of mercury in the mining process,” the Director General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines, Daniel Álvarez, told the commission.

He also assured that the law would exclude mining activities in protected natural areas or water recharge sites.

MP Claudia Ortiz, of the opposition Vamos party, denounced “the lack of public debate” on this law and the “rush” to have it adopted.

“This is equivalent to 380% of GDP”

At the end of November on his million Swiss francs). This is equivalent to 380% of GDP,” he said, citing a study written by unknown authors which has never been published.

Daniel Álvarez was more cautious about the mining potential, indicating that knowledge “is not up to date”. “We are going to carry out studies to know all the types of minerals that exist,” he said.

Nayib Bukele's will arouses concern among environmental defenders, but also the Catholic Church, who fear that the return of mining will lead to the contamination of water sources, notably the Lempa River which supplies 70% of the inhabitants of the capital and surrounding areas.

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