Recently, Colombian mining authorities have been publicly saying that the country has a large number of explorable gold and copper mines.
According to data from mining institutions, Colombia's current mining activities account for 2.9 per cent of its territory, covering 3.32 million hectares, while another 9.1 million hectares (7.9 per cent of the territory) need to apply for mining licences. Of the 7285 approved mines, 16 per cent contain precious metals and 1 per cent have potential copper resources. Of the applications being processed, 41 per cent are precious metals and 3 per cent are copper. Colombia will produce 9732 tons of copper in 2020, awarding only 262 mining rights, and another 1292 are under way. There are currently 13 copper projects under exploration in the country, with San Mati í as of Cordoba and Quebradona of AngloGold Ashanti taking the lead.
The only copper mine in production is the El Roble mine, which is controlled by Atico Mining.
ANM predicts that the country's copper production will reach 2 million tons by 2024.
In February, the country launched a copper investment call with a target of $25 million-$30 million. Earlier this month, the selection process for exploration and development of mining areas began in four blocs in the provinces of Cesar and LaGuajira.
