The Bellavista open-pit gold mine, in the town of Miramar, near the Pacific port city of Puntarenas, officially started commercial operations last month, according to spokeswoman Kattia Chacón.
After receiving the approval of government institutions for more than 250 permits required for operation, the mine received the final permit it needed from the Ministry of Public Health in late December, allowing it to begin commercial mining on Dec. 23, Chacón said.
The mine, managed by Metales Procesados M.R.W., S.A., a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Glencairn Gold, will extract 60,000 ounces of gold from Miramar during the next eight years, said a statement from Bellavista.
The mine, which opened in April 2004 and began preliminary gold extraction one year later, has raised fierce criticism from environmentalists (TT, Nov. 26, 2004). The mine is one of two gold-pit mines in the country declared exempt from a moratorium on open-pit mining signed in 2002 (TT, June 7, 2002).
The other is Las Crucitas open-pit gold mine, in the country’s Northern Zone which awaits only minor permits before scheduled construction of the mine can begin around mid-year (TT, Dec. 23, 2005).
