THE Health Ministry sent officials to inspect a controversial open-pit gold mine in Miramar, in the Puntarenas province, Minister Rocío Saenz told the daily La Nación.The Costa Rican Federation for the Conservation of the Environment (FECON) announced that the ministry had ordered the mine partially shut down, but the ministry did not confirm that.According to FECON representatives, the mine – which uses cyanide to extract gold from its ore – is dangerously close to sources of water used for human consumption.
