Authority halts AngloGold Ashanti's Tolima exploration - Colombia
Friday, February 22, 2008
Colombia's Tolima department regulator Cortolima has ordered South African miner AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) to halt exploration works in the Cajamarca municipality, the country's environmental ministry reported.Cortolima maintains that AngloGold has violated a law banning the activity in protected reserve areas.
Exploration that takes place in protected zones requires a special approval from the environmental ministry and thus far "not a single request has been sent to this office regarding exploration activities in the Cajamarca area," the ministry said.
The ministry requires the interested company to make a petition before it can proceed with its evaluation, the ministry reported.
AngloGold officials were not immediately available for comment when contacted by BNamericas.
The Colombian government confirmed a gold deposit in late 2007 in the same area of Tolima department that will require an investment of more than US$2bn to be mined.
"The deposit is tremendous and representatives of the mining company classify it as one of the largest in the world," Colombia's mining and energy minister Hernán Martínez said at the time.
Exploration activity was halted because the area is the source of two streams that empty into the Bermellón river that feeds the Cajamarca aqueduct, the same line that has been proposed as an alternative to the aqueduct in Ibagué, Tolima's capital.
Colombia's mining and energy ministry previously said it expects to release a comprehensive report about the new deposit in February.
Business News Americas
