Business
Haiti: Gold and copper mining permits
A drill worker listens for the bit, hundreds of feet underground, during exploratory drilling for minerals and metals Haiti. PHOTO/Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Haiti announced Friday that it has awarded permits for the first time in the country’s recent history to allow two companies to openly mine for gold and copper.
The country’s mining director, Ludner Remarais, said he issued a gold and copper exploitation permit to SOMINE, which is jointly owned by Canadian company Majescor and Haitian investors. Remarais also issued a second gold exploitation permit to VCS, a North Carolina-based mining company with offices in Haiti.
“It allows us to finally produce and make money, at least get to that step,” said Majescor CEO Dan Hachey. “It’s also a great step forward for the mining industry in Haiti.”
The company still has to submit a preliminary environmental assessment although obtaining the permit is the final step to allow open-pit mining, Hachey said. He added that a deadline hasn’t been set.
The company will do additional drilling to better determine where the minerals are located, Hachey said.
“You want to see how far these deposits are, how broad, how wide, how deep, how long,” he said, adding that the company expects to invest about US$75 million to get to the production stage for gold mining. He added it will take hundreds of millions of dollars more to reach the production stage for copper mining, which he described as more difficult.
SOMINE engineer Michel Lamarre said he expects exploration to start in 36 to 42 months, adding that the company has already spent US$10 million in research.
