On November 12nd and 13th Panama City Latin American mining companies will be gathering together in Panama City to address the challenges and opportunities for the industry in Central America.
The Mining Chamber of Panama is organizing the event, in conjunction with the Latin American Mining Organization (Olami), called the First International Mining Congress, which will focus on the challenges and opportunities of mining activities in Central America.
Between January and April this year, mining sales totaled $71 million, $20.8 million less than that recorded in the same period in 2014.
The report by the Central Bank of Honduras said that the decline was mainly because so far this year they have not been exporting iron oxide due to the temporary closure of the companies dedicated to this sector because of the implementation of new extraction methods.
The Hernández administration has agreed to reserve 18 zones with mining potential for exploration and exploitation in order to generate resources for the state.
Of the 950 sites that are being evaluated to determine whether they have potential for mineral extraction, 18 have been reserved for exploitation by the state.
Ebal Diaz, presidential adviser, told Laprensa.hn that "...
It has been announced that in April a tender will be held for the construction, using Public Private Partnership mode, of an industrial mining park in the south of the country, where several artisanal mines are operating.
From a statement issued by the Commission for the Promotion of Public Private Partnership (COALIANZA):
Officials from the Commission for the Promotion and Public Private Partnership (COALIANZA) and the Honduran Institute of Geology and Mining (INHGEOMIN), will be launching in April a tender for the construction of the first mining park in El Corpus, Choluteca in the form Community Public Private Partnership (APPC).
After having purged concessions made in the past, the government is now providing new exploration licenses at the rate of 20 per month.
'Growing interest ... between domestic and foreign investors " has been noted in relation to the opportunities the country offers in this area.
The approximately 20 requests per month registered are for mineral exploration, because before granting an operating permit a series of studies must be carried out in order to determine if the area is profitable. Currently only 6 companies, mostly of foreign capital, have licenses.
Conflicts over environmental protection and excessive bureaucracy in the process of granting concessions are the factors that limit the great mining potential in the region.
The mining sector in Central America represents great potential for investment and business, however, it has so far contributed only 0.75% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), averaged from the six countries in the region, between 2008 and 2012.
An announcement has been made that the Monte Redondo mine which is operated by the concessionaire Five Star Mining has resumed overseas sales of iron oxide, after having suspended them in May this year.
After having announced in May that exports were suspended due to unfavorable conditions prevailing in prices in the international market, the mine in Agalteca has resumed sales, according to municipal authorities.
On November 19th-21st 2014 companies engaged in mining infrastructure and construction in Central America and the Caribbean will meet in the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama.
The Mining Chamber of Panama, is organizing for the third time the International Minera EXPOConferencia event.
Mr Zorel Morales, Executive Director of the Mining Chamber of Panama, said that "...
The study notes that in ten years the contribution of mining to the economy was only 1.25% of GDP.
From a press release issued by the Central Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi):
The study entitled "Assessment of the mining situation in Honduras 2007-2012" highlights the controversial nature of mining in Honduras, which generally comes from: a) conflicts between mining companies and communities; b) low levels of contribution to national and municipal taxes; c) environmental problems; d) human rights violations; d) weak legal framework and one which is favorable to mining companies; e) weakness state institutions which regulate mining activities.
The government has announced that it will revise all contracts awarded and projects that are not being run will be reassigned.
State institutions responsible for granting operating licenses to mining, forestry, clean energy generation and hydrocarbon projects, have a deadline of two weeks to complete the collection of all permits, licenses and concessions granted in the past two governments and present a report to President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who will decide whether or not to revoke the licenses that have not been executed in order to reallocate the revoked contracts to new investors.
Five Star Mining, the operator of the Agalteca iron oxide mine, has requested permission to build a cement factory in the mining concession area.
The government reported that the company Five Star Mining (FSM) plans to invest $200 million over three years in the installation of a cement factory in the mine in Agalteca, of which it is the concessionaire.
The Monte Redondo mine, which accounted for the highest level of exploitation of iron oxide in the country, has temporarily suspended sales abroad.
The company Five Star Mining, operator of the mine in Agalteca has suspended exports to China until September, in order to make improvements to the project and increase its international competitiveness, explained the Secretary of Environment and Mining, Carlos Pineda Fasquelle.
The government plans to generate $5 billion in investments from local and foreign companies in the eight most important sectors of the economy.
The areas of energy, construction and housing, tourism, agribusiness, mining and petroleum, infrastructure and manufacturing, maquila and forestry were identified by the government as the production sectors that contribute most to the economy.
At the moment studies are being carried out on more than 160 applications from companies seeking to explore mining areas under the framework of the new legislation passed in 2013.
Since the adoption of the new Law on Mining operations in Honduras, the Honduran Institute of Geology has received more than 160 applications for exploration permits from mining companies.
The Honduran Miners Association is organizing a visit to England and Austria to promote investments in the extractive industry.
A committee of business executives related to the mining sector will visit Europe in the coming weeks to promote investments in the mining industry in Honduras.
"The new president of the Mining Association of Honduras, Africa Madrid, said the idea is to invite European investors to come and invest in the mining and metallurgical industry."