LatinNews Daily - 2 January 2025

*El Salvador’s 60-member legislature has approved a new legislative bill that lifts a ban on metals mining imposed in 2017 due to concerns over impacts on the environment and public health. The bill, which includes 35 articles, was approved by 57 votes and provides regulation regarding the exploration, exploitation, extraction, processing, and the sale of metallic mining activities. The move was proposed by authoritarian President Nayib Bukele at the end of November 2024. According to a legislative assembly statement, which cites studies by foreign companies, in just 4% of the area with mining extraction potential, 50m ounces of gold have been identified, valued at US$131.57bn, equivalent to 380% of El Salvador’s GDP. The same statement claims that mining would be implemented under environmental protection and subject to application of best practice such as clean technology and environmental compensation. Under the new law, the general directorate of energy, hydrocarbons & mines (DGEHM) is responsible for overseeing metallic mining activity and guaranteeing that the rules are observed. The move has been widely rejected by civil society groups such as anti-metallic mining coordinating group Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica and Bloque de Resistencia y Rebeldía Popular (BRP), a grouping of left-wing social organisations, amid concerns regarding the impact on water, public health, and the environment. A survey by Universidad Centroamericana’s Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (Iudop) published last month showed 59.2% of respondents thought that El Salvador was not suitable for metallic mining.