Costa Rica denies unit of Canada's B2Gold right to resume mining at collapsed site

Costa Rican officials nixed a resumption of mining by Metales Procesados M.R.W, a subsidiary of Canadian-owned B2Gold, at a site that collapsed back in 2007.

A technical-environmental body in the environment ministry said plans for resuming operations at the site in Miramar de Puntarenas, about 110 kilometers west of San José, were environmentally non-viable.

The body cited a May 2010 decree by President Laura Chinchilla slapping a moratorium on new mine exploration and mining, particularly for gold, which uses highly toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury.


Original source: AFP