Transnational oil and mining companies are taking states to international arbitration where "they get money that they did not even invest."
So says Manuel Perez Rocha, coordinator of the Network for Justice in Global Investment in Washington, who explains that when a Latin American state suspends exploration or exploitation permits, multinationals always manage to extract profits from international courts, particularly the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Petaquilla Gold, the largest gold mine in Panama, has announced a plant for the manufacture of tiles, bricks and slates based on clay residues from the metal extraction process.
Petaquilla Gold is venturing into the production of building materials to create a clay products factory, Petarcilla SA, which will use waste from the grinding and extraction process at the Molejón gold and silver mine.
Guatemala and Honduras are among the worst countries in the world in which to invest in the mining industry.
The Policy Potential Index (PPI) is a composite index, which measures how attractive countries policies are for developing mining projects. It is published by the Fraser Institute, whose vision is a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit more when they have more choice, when markets are competitive, and when there is greater personal responsibility. Its mission is to measure, study and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government interventions on people’s welfare.
Tuthill is looking for distributors in Central America and the Caribbean for its highly profitable brands Fill Rite, Sotera and Precision Meters.
Tuthill Transfer Systems, North America's leading manufacturer of pumps and meters for the dispatch and transfer of fuels, is looking for distributors in Central America and the Caribbean to represent and market their brands Fill Rite, Sotera and Precision Meters, which offer an excellent profit margin .
From 14 to 16 November, the fifth Central American Energy Fair will take place, with the theme "challenges and opportunities for boosting the region’s energy potential."
The event, which anticipates the participation of 80 to 100 companies, brings together businessmen and investors from the energy and oil sectors and, for the first time this year, the mining sector.
During 2011 the price of gold has continued to rise, and so far this year has recorded growth of 16%, which has encouraged mergers and acquisitions in this mining sector.
In the eleventh year of rising prices, gold reached the record value of $1,923.70 an ounce on September 6.
"BlackRock Inc., which manages natural resource funds for $35.750 million, estimated there could be more mergers and acquisitions in the gold mining sector after the price of gold rose to unprecedented levels", reported Bloomberg News.
The Peruvian Congress has passed a law which will raise the taxes on mining profits by six times its current value, equating to about $1,100 million annually.
The reform, driven by nationalist president Ollanta Humala, aims to reduce the high rate of poverty in the country which is rich in natural resources.
An Article in Reuters reports, "Peru's mining sector, the second largest producer of copper and silver, is vital to the local economy as it contributes to nearly 60 percent of export earnings."
El Salvador and Costa Rica say NO. Panama and Nicaragua say YES. Guatemala and Honduras are expected to decide soon.
Gold and copper prices are on the rise, and investors are eager to put money in extraction projects all over Central America.
But the governments of Central America have different opinions over this industry. While these projects are welcomed and authorized In Panama and Nicaragua, informal and formal moratoriums to the activity are being decreed in Costa Rica and El Salvador, stopping mining concessions under pressure from environmentalist groups. Meanwhile, in Guatemala and Honduras new projects are awaiting rules and regulations that will likely toughen environmental regulations for the mining industry.
There is an unbeatable way to end with mining once and for all.
Sometimes the best way to rebut extreme ideas is to reduce them to the absurd. This is what Santos Gabino Carvajal does in an article published in Sigloxxi.com.
It must be noted that Gabino Carvajal has a large stake in the matter, as he is the president of the Honduran Metal Mining Association.
Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled that Canadian mining corporations must conduct more detailed environmental impact studies.
Several mining companies from Canada operate in Central America. Some of them include Breakwater Resources (Honduras), Inmet Mining Corp (Panama), Petaquilla Minerals Ltd (Panama), B2Gold Corp (Nicaragua), Argonaut Gold (Guatemala) and GoldCorp (Guatemala and Honduras).
Armstrong Equipment, Inc. is an American based company that specializes in the distribution to Latin America of equipment and parts used in the mining sector, rock crushing and asphalt paving.
Organization that operates in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama
Phone: (305) 592 8361