Colombia signs agreement to establish national mining company with assets seized from criminals

Colombian government entities signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to create a national mining company from assets seized from criminal groupsto help small-scale miners and address pollution related to the sector.

The government of President Gustavo Petro, the first leftist to take office, has vowed to reform the mining sector, scrapping more licenses for large-scale open-pit coal mines, and instead focus on minerals important to the energy transition, such as Copper.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by the National Mining Agency (ANM), the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Special Assets Company (SAE), a fund that manages assets seized from criminals and illegal groups to compensate victims of the internal armed conflict in the South American country.

Now, the three entities will analyze how to establish the new state company, SAE director José Daniel Rojas told reporters.

“We are going to generate joint working groups in which we are going to begin to technically develop the proposal,” Rojas said at a press conference in Bogotá, before joking that deciding on a name would be one of the most difficult aspects in establishing the new entity.

The national mining company, which will be created from two gold trading companies currently under SAE control, will purchase gold from small-scale miners who produce the precious metal without using cyanide or mercury, with the aim of export ecological gold to Europesaid the president of the ANM, Álvaro Pardo, last week.

Neither the ministry nor the SAE nor the ANM had details on when the new company would start production or exports.

“We hope to be back soon, telling you a little about how we are going to make this possible for the good of those mining citizens,” said the Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Vélez.