BHP coal mine meets resistance in Colombia

Latin America’s largest open-pit coal mine is struggling to persuade some members of a small community in northeastern Colombia to relocate and may have to alter its mining strategy.

The Cerrejon venture - owned by BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore - is in relocation talks with residents of Las Casitas, where dust is approaching levels set by the World Bank, Vice-President of Public Affairs Juan Carlos Restrepo said in a telephone interview.

“We have until 2016,” he said from Bogota. “Otherwise we’ll have to change our mining plans, expand the pit in a different direction or mine in other areas.”

Source: Bloomberg