Wednesday, August 18, 2010
A contentious open-pit gold mine is upsetting locals along the Nicaraguan-Costa Rican border, but the Canadian company behind it could get millions if the contract is cancelled.
Canadian gold mining explorations in Central America might be close to expanding with a new project potentially going ahead in Costa Rica.
Industrias Infinito S.A., owned by the Calgary-based Infinito Gold Ltd., is a mine company that is trying to win a legal battle with the new Costa Rican government to push for the Crucitas project in the small community of Las Crucitas, north of the border of Nicaragua.
Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica's new president, revised the contract that former president Óscar Arias signed with the Canadian firm months before reaching the end of his presidential term.
But Chinchilla is under pressure from environmental groups, such as "Ni una Mina más" translated as "Not a single mine," to put a stop to the project.
