One year after the suspension of operations at the El Escobal mining project in Guatemala, the company is still waiting for a definitive judicial decision from the Constitutional Court.
In May 2018, the Legal, Environmental and Social Action Center of Guatemala (Calas) filed an appeal for legal protection, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines had not carried out the necessary community consultations before authorizing the licenses.
In Guatemala, the supply and on-site delivery of 4,400 cubic meters of boulder-type basalt rock is being put out to tender.
Guatemala Government Purchase 7820054:
"The department of forestry, conservation and soil management, at the Authority of Lake Amatitlán, wishes to purchase 4,400 cubic meters of basalt boulder rock, for the expansion and stabilization of the channel, banks and slopes of the Villalobos riverand the confluence of its main tributaries.
In Panama, it is being claimed that gold mining activity at the Cerro Quema mine will set back 18 months, due to a delay in approving the environmental study and the extension of a concession on the part of the government.
General managers of the company Minera Cerro Quema, in charge of the concession for the mine, stated that the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) was presented three years ago, and they have still not received approval from the authorities.
According to a recent study, companies that carry out mining activities in the country, operate with a profit margin of 22% before paying taxes.
The report prepared by Central American Business Intelligence (CABI), details that companies in the mining industry operating in Guatemala can achieve extraction costs of up to 55%.
Although the exports in this sector fell 9% during the past year, the union expects that in 2018 sales abroad could grow by 17%.
According to figures from the Central Bank of Nicaragua, sales abroad made by the mining sector totaled $338 million in 2017, which represents a reduction of 9% compared to the amount reported in 2016.
On August 16 and 17, 2018 companies in the international mining industry will be gathering together in Managua, to take part in business conferences and discuss issues related to the sector.
The event is being organized by the Mining Chamber of Nicaragua and is expected to involve mining companies from all of the countries in Central America, and Canada, the United States, Colombia, Australia, England and Argentina.
The protests which since the beginning of the year have been held by workers in the Cobre Panama project in Colón have paralyzed work on the power line and the 300 MW thermoelectric plant.
The labor dispute that has prevented the project from progressing arose after both parties, the workers' union and the company Minera Panamá, accused each other of not complying with some points of the agreement made between them in January, with intermediation on the part of the Ministry of Labor.
Industrialists are demanding that the Constitutional Court rule on the request for legal protection that was granted in favor of an environmental group and which is keeping the mine's operations in a state of paralysis.
The project has been paralyzed since an environmental organization filed an request for legal protection against the mine, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not carry out the necessary community consultations before authorizing the licenses.
The consortium Dong Jyu Group is exploring business opportunities in Honduras, with the objective of marketing minerals such as gold, silver and bronze, as well as opal and jade.
From a statement issued by the Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines:
February 5, Tegucigalpa. - The president of the Taiwanese consortium Dong Jyu Goup, Donal Lin and his team, met with the Executive Director of the Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines (INHGEOMIN), with the purpose of consolidating the mining investment processes currently being carried out in the country.
From January to September 2017, regional exports of metalliferous minerals totalled $59 million, 40% more than in the same period in 2016.
Figures from the information system on the the Metal Ores Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has requested that the Executive Power authorize the Canadian company Gold Quest a mining license for the Romero project in San Juan de la Maguana.
Seven years is the estimated useful life of the deposit of gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead, whose present value is around $561 million in accordance with the current prices of metals.
After seven months of suspended operations, the company that operates the Escobal mine in Guatemala has announced that it is making 250 workers redundant.
Gold, silver, lead and zinc were some of the main materials exported during 2017, and the main buyers were the USA, Germany, Aruba, Austria and Belgium.
The authorities at the Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines (Inhgeomin) presented figures for 2017 and explained that the good performance achieved last year was mainly due to favourable international prices and to the reactivation in economies such as the United States, which led to an increase in demand for metals and minerals, especially for construction.
The bill contemplates creating a National System for the Distribution of Mining State Income, which would use the funds generated to finance sustainable development projects in the country.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mines:
SANTO DOMINGO, December 17, 2017. The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) sent the Executive Branch theDraft Mining Law, a consensual initiative that promotes a greater participation of the State in the wealth extracted without being detrimental to the profitability of private enterprise in a win-win model.
Next year the B2Gold mining company plans to produce around 118 thousand ounces of gold in the Tope and San Juan project, in the municipality of La Libertad.
Authorities at the mining company explained that in 2017 production was lower because they had not obtained all of the permits, but now, with the approval of the environmental impact studies, B2Gold plans to increase activities and consequently the extraction of gold.