Argentina’s Mendoza province looks to re-instate mining ban
Chances are strong that a 2006 gubernatorial veto of a metals mining ban will be shortly overridden by the parliament of Argentina’s Mendoza Province, potentially impacting at least two projects involving Canadian exploration companies.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Thursday , 31 May 2007
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RENO, NV -
Business News Americas reported Wednesday that the lower house of Argentina's Mendoza Province has overruled Governor Julio Cobos' veto of a bill that suspended all open-pit mining in the province.
Last December, Governor Cabos, a civil engineer, called the legislation unconstitutional, claiming that the Provincial Congress is attempting to enact laws that are under the exclusive jurisdiction of Argentina's National Congress. Cabos said the provincial bill is also superseded by a federal mining law.
The western province is viewed as the nation's wine country, and its fruits and olive oil production are considered important to Argentina's agricultural sector.
Last December the Mendoza Parliament voted to suspend open-pit metals mining indefinitely because the local government did not meet a 30-day deadline to come up with a plan to regulate the environmental aspects of mining projects.
At the time, two projects were in the feasibility stage and were considered to potentially be impacted by the legislation, Exeter Resources La Cabeza gold project and Global Copper's San Jorge gold and copper property.
Mendoza's Provincial House voted in 2005 to expand the Laguna del Diamante nature reserve, effectively taking Tenke Mining's Pagagallos copper and gold project. However, Exeter claimed last December that it "has been given a clear understanding that its La Cabeza project area will fall within a region designated by the new plan for mineral exploration and potential mine development. In addition, the company has been assured of the support of the Malargüe Departmento (the County of Malargüe-in which La Cabeza is located) for exploration and mining in the project area." Malargüe is located in southwestern Mendoza.
"The company has been advised by both its Argentina legal advisors and by key provincial government officials that the proposed suspension would have only applied to the grant of new licenses. Accordingly, the company is satisfied that exploration on its existing licenses would have continued, even if the new legislation had not been vetoed by the Governor," Exeter declared at the time.
The Don Sixto gold property, formerly known as La Cabeza, is located in the southern Mendoza Province. After the governor vetoed the anti-mining legislation, Exeter (AMEX:XRA, TSX-V: XRC) has continued drilling on the property, which the company has called "the most advanced gold-silver project in Mendoza Province." A new independent resource calculation was originally scheduled to be released by the Vancouver-based explorationist at the end of May.
The San Jorge gold and copper property is located 110km northwest of the city of Mendoza. It has been previously explored by a number of companies from the 1960s to 1998. On August 10, 2006, the property was optioned by Global Copper (TSX:GLQ) to Coro Mining Company. Both junior companies are based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mining opponents in the province say they are concerned about blasting and chemical used in mining which may harm water supplies.
In a statement to Business News Americas Wednesday, Argentina's mining chamber Cámara Argentina de Empresarios Mineros (CAEM) expressed concern that "internal politics within Mendoza would work against the possibility of industrial mining development and the economic development of the entire province because of decisions made without any technical basis."
The House is again scheduled to reconsider its vote banning mining this week or on June 6th. If the votes aren't changed, the governor's veto will be overridden and the metals mining ban will go into effect. |
