©ARM
November 11th, 2015
The Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy recently released a proposal for a decree that aims to establish a classification of the different types of mining in the country, a necessity identified in the National Development Plan 2015-2018. Citizens were invited to participate with their comments and observations on the project on the website of the mining authority. Following up on our participation in the ongoing discussions around this issue this year, the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) sent the following observations:
Although the Colombian mining authorities have been doing important work towards the formalization of small-scale miners in recent years –work that was reinforced with the 2014 Formalization Policy–, an analysis of the draft decree shows that there are still important issues to discuss. One example is that the maximum quantities of production or removed material established for small-scale mining (15.000 tones/year), could disincentivize the association structures, such as cooperatives and Special Reserve Areas (Áreas de Reserva Especial), that often produce twice as much and have proven to be key in the positive transformation of the sector helping the miners overcome economic, administrative and productivity barriers.
Additional observations were made related on the issue of artisanal and ancestral mining in the country, which is not included and have been pending appropriate regulation for more than 20 years. Furthermore, our recommendations touches upon the subject of royalties for the small-scale mining sector and on how measuring will be carried out in the field.
A complete document with in depth arguments that support these observations has been submitted to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and can be accessed here (in Spanish).