Making the most of declining junior miners
Miners are underperforming gold despite getting support from the stock market.
Over three years after an earthquake devastated Haiti, killing more than 300,000, the country is banking on its mineral wealth to help take it off the poorest countries in the world list.
Since earlier this year, the country has been working on updating its old mining legislation with the assistance of The World Bank.
According to mining companies already drilling for gold, copper and silver in the country’s northeastern mountains, Haiti’s untapped minerals and metals could be worth $20 billion.
Extracting minerals in Haiti has been prohibitive in the past due to many issues, including political instability and resistance to mining companies. But a new report by Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW), released Thursday, shows that already one-third of the country’s north is under research, exploration, or exploitation license to foreign companies.
The group added the awarding of permits has happened behind closed doors, with no independent or community input, which has triggered fears the government is opening the country’s reserves for foreigners’ benefit.
Aware of this, the Haitian Senate resolved in February to halt all activities connected with recently granted gold and copper mining permits in order to allow for a national debate and for analysis of all contracts.
A few months later, the World Bank announced it was supporting the government to revise its outdated mining laws.
The new regulation would set out royalties for the government — between 9% and 12% — as well as environmental protection.
Image of street kids in Les Cayes, Haiti, by 350.org
6 Comments
Mike Shultz
where-ever death and the poor ARE lays a pathway for Highest profit margins and corruption (it makes it more easy and less noticeable) companies can hide under so called AID and non profits/ easily trade cheap labor for high profit. Where laws have “really never been established and IF crippled further then “what would a bit more destruction hurt? AS the Earth heaved up (possible more easy to grab Profit while swallowing death/ ‘fair trade hmm? Or is it just Capitalism? Republic? Dictator? hmmm , It all depends if you notice or look the other way? Who is counting when the people are hungry?
Bushrat
This story is strange. I worked in Haiti in mineral exploration for over 1 year. The problems in Haiti make it a high risk en devour during the best of times. Poor infrastructure and an unskilled labour force are just a couple of problems. Mining the minerals from the earth is a great way to help Haiti. I saw the growth in the area we worked just from the steady employment of the locals that we provided with a small exploration program. When under-developed countries get a greedy, they chase away capital. They are already high risk for a number of reasons, why make it more unstable with the threats of a unfair royalties system? Has any country learned anything from Mongolia???
James Shepherd
Haiti hasn’t had a mining industry in 200 years, and 85% of GDP comes from foreign aid, after the NGOs have taken their cut… lol
goldberger
Les ONG sont des fouilles – merde trop bien subventionnées…….
lobozapato
Mining would help the people to get jobs and make some money. When the people are not poor anymore, then the NGOs would be out of a job.
9-12% royalty is way over the top. The normal rate worldwide is between 2 and 4%. The claimed $20 billion are pie in the sky: they are worth nothing as long as the metals remain in the ground. Zero. Zip. Neither Haiti nor the NGOs are capable of getting the metals out of the ground.
Langa
Haiti is not the first country to be exploited, look at what is happening in some parts of the African continent, the richest continent in minerals in the whole world. So called ‘Super Power’ countries scavenging on its resources for their own benefit and sowing division among Africans. International Politics I guess, some governments are just puppets to these scavengers with their so called AIDS, whereby development of the local citizens is just a pipe dream.