The provinces of Antioquia and Boyaca own 33% of the country’s 8,880 mining titles while Amazonas is one of three to be left unexploited, Colombia’s National Mining Agency revealed.
Newspaper La Republica mapped the staggering number mining titles being expanded over 29 of the country’s 32 provinces based on information by the National Mining Agenca (ANM).
Mining titles per province
According to ANM statistics, Antioquia ranks first with its 1,448 mining titles and it is closely followed by the department of Boyaca where miners have obtained 1,446 mining titles.
Referring to the great mining prospects of Antioquia, Silvia Habib, the ANM president told newspaper La Republica that “on average, in the last five years, its share of the country’s gold production was 43%; silver, 63%; platinum, 1%; building materials, 4%; clay and limestone, 6%.”
Notwithstanding the substantial contribution to the country’s mining production, Antioquia also ranks first in calls for popular votes opposing mining.
Habibi, however, is optimistic about the beneficial role of mining for the country and its communities and used Boyaca to illustrate a successful relationship between mining and other economic activities such as agriculture and livestock.
“Boyaca is the perfect example that mining is compatible with other productive activities in the same soil, and that does not affect the normal development of other industries. On the contrary, it is a boom for regional economies, “says Silvana Habib.
Famed for its emerald production, Boyaca is also a leader in producing coal, construction materials, phosphoric rock, iron and gypsum.
The ANM ranking placed Cundinamarca as being the third in the country with most mining titles, followed by Norte de Santander and Santander.
The provinces with the least mining titles in the country are Vaupes (5), Vichada and Guaviare (10), Guainia (34) and Arauca (35). These provinces mostly produce construction materials, niobium, gold and black sand.
The only provinces apart from the capital district of Bogota to be free of mining titles are Amazonas, San Andres and Sucre, according to the ANM.