Environmentalists have warned the rebranding of Canadian mining company Greystar, now called Eco-oro, will mark the beginning of a new bid to gain mining concessions in the mountains of northern Colombia, according to Radio Caracol.
Earlier this year, Greystar came into confrontation with environmentalists and local politicians who claimed plans for mining in the Santurban mountains, would devastate the landscape and pollute water-supplies.
The government eventually blocked the plans, saying the company had not proven the mining would not “compromise the ecosystem.”
However, the region’s environmental organizations and politicians now say the rebranded company has launched a new attempt to extract the region’s gold and silver.
The Santurban mountains in Santander is an area of high bio-diversity which supplies 2.2 million people with water in nearby cities and municipalities. Campaigners claim the planned open-pit mining in the area would destroy the area’s surface vegetation and habitats and contaminate the water supply with sodium cyanide and other chemicals used in the extraction process.