The town used to be the home of a large population of Cornish miners, who were drawn to this location from their native land to work the mines.

Naturally, the people of the town have resisted this, claiming that the government had violated its own rules in agreeing to this.

On 1 September 2011, the local parish priest, the Reverend José Reynal-Restrepo was returning on his motorbike from a trip to Bogotá, the nation's capital, to clarify the company's claims that the local Archbishop had agreed to the sale of the Church's property in the town.

Spokesmen for the mining company say that his death was a regrettable case of random banditry.

[3] A partially crowdfunded[4] documentary, Marmato released in 2014, directed by Mark Grieco, chronicles six years of the battle between Gran Colombia Gold and the community.