Mineral industry of Colombia
Nonmetallic mined minerals include salt, limestone, sulfur, gypsum, dolomite, barite, feldspar, clay, magnetite, mica, talcum, and marble.
Despite the variety of minerals available for exploitation, Colombia still had to import substances such as iron, copper, and aluminum to meet its industrial needs.
[1] Minerals—in particular coal, oil, and natural gas, but also emeralds, gold, and nickel—have played an important role in Colombia's GDP and foreign trade in the last 20 years.
The minerals industry has compensated to a certain extent for the decreasing role of agriculture and has expanded the importance of commodities for the economy as a whole.
Illegal mining, especially of gold, has grown due to Colombia's aggressive counter narcotics policies, which increase the risks associated with the drug economy.
[3] Mining of kaolinite and hematite for pottery pigments started in what is today Colombia since the mid-late neolithic, with archaeological evidence of ceramic production and sedentary groups living in El Abra settlements and the Colombian Caribbean coast (near the towns of San Jacinto, Monsú, Puerto Chacho, and Puerto Hormiga archaeological site) beginning around the year 5940 BCE around the town of San Jacinto.
The earliest examples of gold mining and goldwork have been attributed to the Tumaco people of the Pacific coast and date to around 325 BCE.
[6][7] Although significant in the colonial economy, it never commanded a large portion of Colombia's GDP in modern times.
With the discovery and exploitation of large coal reserves, however, the role of mining in the national economy expanded in the late 1980s.
While Colombia has vast hydroelectric potential, a prolonged drought in 1992 forced severe electricity rationing throughout the country until mid-1993.
The consequences of the drought on electricity-generating capacity caused the government to commission the construction or upgrading of 10 thermoelectric power plants.
Plans call for this project to make natural gas available to millions of Colombian households by the middle of the next decade.
President Gustavo Petro, with a strong focus on combating climate change, has declined to issue licenses for new natural gas exploration, despite dwindling reserves.
This policy has led to expectations of increased energy costs, compelling the country to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is substantially more expensive than domestic sources.
The state oil company, Ecopetrol, is attempting to address this shortfall by restarting previously suspended projects and increasing output from smaller fields.
Nonetheless, projections indicate a widening gap between gas supply and demand, potentially impacting the competitiveness of Colombian industries.
Furthermore, 94 percent of Colombia's coal is of very good quality and is classified as hard, with high heat-generating capacity.
[15] As of 2009, La Colosa mining project (to be exploited by AngloGold Ashanti) near Cajamarca, Tolima is in planning phase, with calculated reserves of 12.9 million ounces.
[30] Mining infrastructure is a common target of terrorist attacks, specially the oil and gas pipelines, mainly by the Farc and ELN guerrillas.
[31] The Caño Limón–Coveñas pipeline, which stretches 780 km from the Caño Limón to the Atlantic port of Coveñas, has come under heavy attack, including 170 attacks in 2002 alone, The pipeline remained out of operation for 266 days of that year and the government estimates that these bombings reduced the GDP of Colombia by 0.5%.
[32] The bombings, which have occurred on average once every 5 days, have caused substantial environmental damage, often in fragile rainforests and jungles.
