El Salvador has become the first nation in the world to ban the mining of gold and other metals, ending a decades-long fight by activists to protect the country’s limited water resources.
El Salvador has become the first nation in the world to ban the mining of gold and other metals, ending a decades-long fight by activists to protect the country’s limited water resources.
Lawmakers, many with signs reading “No to Mining, Yes to Life” on their desks, voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of the ban, which will end large-scale mining activities in El Salvador immediately. According to Mongabay, no old permits or license applications will be grandfathered in. The federal government will grant small-scale artisanal gold miners a two-year grace period to close their operations, and will provide technical and financial support to help them do so.
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