Anam seeks state of emergency at abandoned Petaquilla mine

THE MOLEJON mine operated by Petaquilla Gold in Donoso, Colón, has been declared abandoned by Anam the national environmental authority which is seeking to declare a state of emergency at the site.

The mine is a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Petaquilla Minerals.
In inspections carried out in September and November of last year, officials of the institution and the consultant SGS examined the operation, and in particular the storage areas containing chemical-laden waste water reports La Prensa.
Anam contracted SGS to conduct an independent review of the project. It found 28 breaches of the site’s environmental impact study.
The report stressed that existing staff does not have the resources to prevent environmental damage.
Anam official Yamil Sánchez said that occupational health violations were also found.
Operations at the mine were halted at the end of 2013 due to financial problems. An attempt by the company to receive additional financing in 2014 was not successful.
The company has promised to create a $25 million trust fund to restructure the debts of the company.
Petaquilla Minerals has not delivered its 2013-2014 financial report, which led Canadian regulators to suspend trading of its shares.
Its concession is being reviewed by Panama authorities as well, and could be cancelled.
Anam is seeking to have the area declared a state of emergency.
Jorge Obón, a spokesman for Petaquilla Gold, said that the situation is stable and that the only way it could become a problem is if it rained for 40 days in a row. He said the company was going to expand them, but it has stalled due to to a lack of liquidity.
“Despite the fact that we have reduced the number of workers at the mine, the environmental staff remains intact,” he explained.
With regard to the weaknesses detected in the inspection, Obón said that there are always administrative failures that occur in a project of this magnitude
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