The Colombian government recently announced that it will release the country's first round of tender documents for gold and copper exploration contracts by the end of March, as part of its efforts to diversify the mining industry. The South American country has been preparing for the tender for a year. Last week, Colombian Energy and Mines Minister Diego Mesa revealed at an industry summit that a pre-bid for gold exploration contracts will be held on February 24.

The purpose of the pre-qualification process is to allow prospective bidders to adequately prepare their bids, and Mesa said they will not be compelled to participate in this tender, and they can do so in the future. No date has been set for the coal tender, but it will take place before a "change of government" in August, the authority added. Besides oil, Colombia's main export commodity is coal. The country has been trying to become one of the major players in the global mining market for the past 10 years. Colombia is located at the northern end of the Pacific Copper Belt, which runs from Panama in the north to Chile in the south. Chile is the world's largest copper producer.

In early 2021, the Colombian government opened five copper mine areas for bidding. In September, the country's domestic company, Carbomas SAS, was awarded an exploration contract and a production contract for 30 years. This area is located in the provinces of Cesar and Guajira on the Caribbean coast, which have the largest coal reserves and together account for more than 90% of the country's total production. Currently, Colombia's annual copper production is only about 10,000 tons, only from Atico Mining's El Roble mine in Chocó province. The country has granted several copper and gold exploration licenses, but major mining projects still face serious regulatory and safety hurdles. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

In October, Anglo Asati Gold announced that the Quebradona copper project would be delayed as environmental permit applications were put on hold. Meanwhile, the Buritica project, acquired by Zijin Mining for $1 billion, has been severely affected by illegal mining. Dozens of other projects are awaiting environmental permits, while authorities are preparing tenders in five areas, including phosphate rock for fertilizer. Currently, the mining industry accounts for about 2% of Colombia's GDP.EditorXingWentao