Energy & Mines Minister Antonio Almonte will be visiting San Juan de la Maguana where communities have protested the Romero mining project underway by the Goldquest multinational. The community claims the project will cause serious environmental damage. Almonte told Hoy newspaper that he will listen to the community leaders. “Later we will make a report to give to the President of the Republic, to make decisions,” he said.
Almonte said that mining is an important source of foreign exchange for the country. It diversifies the country’s productive capacity and generates jobs. Gold exports were US$1.67 billion in 2019, representing 41.3% of non-free zone exports. In 2020, they are expected to be 42%.
Almonte says mining contributed 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “So mining is a fundamental activity and as a government we are committed to supporting it, promoting it and adding transparency to it,” he said.
He said that the government is drafting amendments to the mining law.
The Ministry of Energy & Mines backs the expansion of works of Barrick Gold Corporation. Barrick recently delivered a US$95 million advance on royalties due in 2022 and 2023 to the government at a time when the pandemic has strained government finances. In 2020, Barrick paid US$385 million in royalties and taxes to the government. The mining company seeks to find where to locate its tailings dam to continue extraction mining operations. The site chosen in central Monte Plata has met with rejection. The tailings dam approval is subject to an environmental impact assessment to determine whether the facility will endanger the surrounding ecosystems and communities or not. Approval is needed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines but also of the Ministry of Environment.
Barrick already operates the Pueblo Viejo operation and the El Llagal tailings storage facility, whose hazard classification is considered ‘extreme,’ as reported in mining.com
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Hoy
14 January 2021