Nickel miner to resume operations, but not on contested mountain

Santo Domingo.- Energy and Mines minister Antonio Isa Condeon Thursday announced that the company Falconbridge has submitted all legal documentsrequired to obtain the permit that will allow it to resume ferronickelextractions, but noted that Loma Miranda isn’t to be touched.

"Since the company Glencore Canada Corp. sold off theshares in Falconbridge to the company Americano Nickel Ltd, it was said thatthey could operate should they complete the necessary documents presented bythe aforementioned law and the lack of them was led to the halting of one cargoof ferronickel containers at the port of Haina, but yesterday we receive allthe documents we had demanded," Isa said.

In a statement, Isa said all documents submitted by the company will beanalyzed to see if they adhere to the provisions of the law and proceed withoutdelay to allow Falconbridge resume operations.

Among the documents the company had to submit, the officialcited the mine plan for five years, where Loma Miranda is not included forpurposes of exploitation, since it doesn’t have the government’s environmentaland licenses.

Falconbridge’s plans to mine Loma Miranda was met with wideopposition and heated protests by activists who vowed to defend the ecology ofthe mountain.