Ecuador unveiled new, tighter regulations for the design and construction of mining waste dams, seeking to avoid disasters like the tailings dam collapse that killed hundreds at a Vale site in Brazil last year.
The Brazilian municipality of Parauapebas, in the state of Pará, which houses part of the Serra dos Carajás, where the largest open-cast iron ore mine in the world is located, will carry out mass testing for Covid-19, reaching about half the population.
Production in Peru’s mining sector will fall by at least 15% this year, representing a loss in revenues of up to US$ 5 billion, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a top mining executive said on Wednesday.
Brazil’s government said it was pushing ahead with plans to allow mining on tribal lands, briefing European diplomats on proposals that have drawn criticism from indigenous advocates in Brazil and overseas.
A controversial mining law that sparked massive protests in the province of Mendoza in Argentina’s western-central region was finally abolished. The province's governor Rodolfo Suárez presented a formal request before the legislature on Monday, and with 34 votes in favor and 2 against, the Senate approved the annulment.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that a bill authorizing mining on protected indigenous reserves was ready and only needed to be sent to Congress for consideration.
A dam owned by iron ore company Vale SA that was the subject of an investigative report by a TV program last week is structurally sound and there is no reason for concern, Brazil’s national mining regulator said this week.
A representative from the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines said this weekend that the country is ready to start mining uranium in the southern Puno region. During a workshop on uranium mining targeted at public service personnel, Martha Vásquez, head of the Mining Management Division at the ministry, said that the country is well-equipped to responsibly exploit the radioactive mineral.
Britain's Ambassador to Peru Kate Harrisson Thursday highlighted that the United Kingdom is currently the biggest foreign investor in the Andean country, thanks to the sizeable mining projects currently under way.
Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra has authorized the army to maintain order at a key mining port, a day before an expected new round of protests against Southern Copper Corp’s US$1.4-billion proposed Tia Maria mine.