Colombia braces for renaissance in gold mining

摘要

One of South America's historically richest gold-producing nations appears poised to regain a crown that was stolen by years of endemic corruption, crime and warfare. Colombia is finally awakening from the social and political nightmare that robbed it of foreign direct investment for the last many decades. And while no one here would say things are perfect — the narco-guerilla outfits Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are still active in contained parts of the country — positive changes are so palpable that miners at the country's fifth annual mining convention, held in September in Medellin, were unabashedly exuberant over the country's mining potential. Long known as the home to significant coal and nickel laterite deposits, much of the new enthusiasm centres around gold.