Costa Rica shuns the mining industry even as precious metals fetch record prices

It started with a dispute over one gold mine. It led to an all-out ban on open-pit metal mining, making Costa Rica the region's most anti-mining country. 

The country has shunned the mining industry even as precious metals fetch record prices, spoiling companies’ hopes of seeking fortunes. Biologists argue that gold mining poses a threat to Costa Rica’s prized biodiversity. Mining advocates, however, say the activity has evolved to be eco-friendly. Promoting it, they say, would spur foreign investment and job creation.

Original source: Global Post