Colombia is targeting growing coal production from 97-million tons this year to more than 120-million tons in 2014, according to Mauricio Cardenas Santa Maria, the country’s minister of mines and energy.
Mining Weekly reported that gold production in the country is also likely to increase, as a flood of junior mining companies have begun to scour the nation in search of the commodity.
“You’re tempted to say it’s a gold rush. Suddenly, everyone wants to be in Colombia,” Cardenas Santa Maria said in a statement.
Mining Weekly reported that in 2011, Colombia – currently the world’s fourth largest coal producer – saw its output of the commodity climb to 84.7-million tons. This represented a 13 percent increase on the figure from the previous year.
After the figure would rise to 120 million tons in 2014, Cardenas Santa Maria noted that the production level would stabilize.
Mining Weekly reported that the South American country saw more than $4 billion in mining investment last year, which was evenly split between coal and gold.
Although this represented a banner year for the industry in Colombia, this level of investment was “probably reaching a peak that will be a challenge to sustain,” Cardenas Santa Maria said in an interview.
Bloomberg reported that the country will be looking to reshape the way it awards mineral exploration rights, as its mining services sector will now hold auctions for prospective companies.
“It’s going to be a more competitive process, a selection based on objective criteria rather than first come, first served,” Cardenas Santa Maria told the news outlet.
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