The Bellavista gold mine in Miramar, in the hills above the Pacific coast town of Puntarenas, shut down operations in July citing worries about landslides due to heavy rains that have destabilized the site.
The company operating the mine, Canadian-based Glencairn Gold Corporation, said in its financial statements that, “It is possible that the Bellavista Mine may remain closed indefinitely if a cost-efficient solution is not found to the ground movement problem or required permitting for remediation is not obtained,” according to business newswire Marketwire.
The mine opened for commercial operations in December 2005, and extracted $23.1 million worth of gold in 2006 (TT, Jan. 6).
In the second quarter of this year the company pulled out $5.81 million worth of the yellow metal.
The open-pit mine is one of the two gold mines in the country exempt from former President Abel Pacheco’s ban on that type of mining in 2002.
The second mine, Las Crucitas, near the Nicaraguan border, is owned by Canadian mining company Vanessa Ventures and has yet to begin operations.
