Mining boondoggle: concession granted in national park.

Nine years after granting a a mining concession in Veraguas, The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Mici) has discovered it is located in a protected area where mining is forbidden.

 The concession, a step prior to awarding a contract to operate was granted to Juan Francisco Pardini, President of Miramar Mining Corp. for gold exploration in the Parque Nacional Santa Fe (Veraguas) during the Mireya Moscoso administration.

However, after more than 100 residents of Santa Fe have expressed their opposition to the mining activity, with letters to the authorities . it came to light that the operation would be located in a protected area where they mining and logging are expressly forbidden and the Ministry has to assess whether the company can legally perform the exploration.
Pardini complains that, in the almost nine years the grant was processed, the ministry said never informed him that the land was in a protected area.
Residents ,They fear mining would damage the park where there are six watersheds, including the Santa Maria River, which supplies water to the provinces of Cocle, Veraguas and Herrera.