Growing opposition to mining in Panama
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2022
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We look at growing opposition to mining in Latin America. The region is a leading producer of copper, silver, iron and lithium. But the environmental and social impact of mining have sparked protests in many countries and several governments have taken action.
Costa Rica outlawed open pit mining in 2002 and in 2017 El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban all metal mining. Earlier this year, Honduras banned open pit mining and there are also calls for a mining moratorium in Panama and I start my report by visiting that country’s largest ever mine, which began operations three years ago.
In this episode Grace Livingstone visits Cobre Panama, an enormous copper mine built in tropical forest on the Caribbean coast of Panama. We also hear from the people who farm the land close to Panama's mines and get the views of local politicians and experts on whether this kind of mining should continue.
Presenter / producer: Grace Livingstone Image: Cobre Panama mine; Credit: BBC
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the colour and the drama to the sounds and the stories. World Football in Qatar is the |
| 0:06.5 | podcast from the BBC World Service taking you behind the scenes of the World Cup. Throughout the |
| 0:12.6 | tournaments, we're meeting the teams, their fans and the people in Qatar, capturing the stories |
| 0:18.3 | and the passion of the nations who are making this competition so exciting. |
| 0:23.0 | For a truly global take on the World Cup, just search for World Football in Qatar, |
| 0:28.2 | wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:32.8 | Hello, I'm Grace Livingstone. |
| 0:35.6 | On today's business daily, we look at growing opposition to mining in Latin America. |
| 0:41.5 | The region is a leading producer of copper, silver, iron and lithium. |
| 0:46.6 | But the environmental and social impact of mining have sparked protests in many countries |
| 0:52.3 | and several governments have taken action. |
| 1:00.0 | Costa Rica outlawed open pit mining in 2002, and in 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban all metal mining. |
| 1:13.1 | Earlier this year, Honduras banned open pit mining. |
| 1:16.5 | And Colombia's new president is considering a moratorium on new mining contracts. |
| 1:24.7 | I'm getting in a helicopter and we're going to fly to the mine. |
| 1:29.0 | There are also calls for a mining moratorium in Panama, |
| 1:32.3 | and I start my report by visiting that country's largest ever mine, |
| 1:37.5 | which began operations three years ago. |
| 1:40.7 | So your seatbelt is a four point? |
| 1:43.7 | Cobra Panama is an enormous copper mine |
| 1:46.9 | built in tropical forest on the Caribbean coast of Panama. |
| 1:50.8 | It's owned by the Canadian company First Quantum |
... |
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