The Salvadoran government is urging El Salvador’s legislature to ban the mining of precious metals in the Central American nation.
According to Latin American Herald Tribune, complaints about the contamination of soil and water with toxic chemicals from extracting and refining gold and silver are widespread in Central America.
The governing party FMLN proposal would give mining companies active in El Salvador six months to dismantle their operations.
One of the firms, Canadian-based Pacific Rim, has reportedly initiated arbitration proceedings against the Salvadoran government for refuse to issue permits for specific projects.
