San Salvador, El Salvador — During a recent announcement, President Nayib Bukele expressed strong support for gold mining in El Salvador, describing the country’s existing seven-year ban on metal mining as “absurd.” This statement raises significant implications for the long-standing prohibition against mining in the nation. Bukele took to social media platform X to communicate his vision, noting that unmined gold represents potential wealth that could lead to a transformation for El Salvador. Given that Bukele’s party holds a substantial majority in Congress and his political opposition is in disarray, it is expected that a formal move to lift the ban would face minimal opposition.
El Salvador implemented the mining ban in 2017, a decision bolstered by a diverse alliance of groups, including the Catholic Church, in an effort to safeguard the nation’s limited freshwater resources from the dangers of contamination. While there were known deposits of gold and silver at that time, no major mining operations had commenced. The precise amount of gold reserves in the country remains uncertain.
In his recent remarks, Bukele proposed a vision of “modern and sustainable” mining practices that he claims would be mindful of environmental impacts. However, environmental advocates quickly challenged his optimistic portrayal. Amalia López of the Alliance Against the Privatization of Water stated, “It’s not true that there’s green mining; it’s paid for with lives, kidney, respiratory problems and leukemia that aren’t immediate.” Her concerns center around the substantial water resources required for mining activities as well as the issues tied to the disposal of water contaminated with heavy metals.
Since March 2022, Bukele has claimed notable progress in reducing the influence of notorious street gangs by detaining over 80,000 individuals suspected of gang involvement. He now aims to implement similar strategies to rejuvenate the country’s economy. This marks a significant shift for Bukele, a widely popular leader who was recently reelected; during his inaugural presidential campaign in 2019, he had voiced support for the mining ban.
In 2021, Bukele had also proposed leveraging El Salvador’s geothermal energy to facilitate bitcoin mining, a process that, while energy-intensive, does not involve traditional mining methods. This approach concentrates on powering the continuous operation of computers that perform mathematical operations to verify cryptocurrency transactions.