{"id":354683,"date":"2024-12-16T18:03:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=354683"},"modified":"2024-12-16T18:25:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:25:04","slug":"el-salvador-now-looking-to-mine-3-trillion-in-gold-and-other-critical-minerals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=354683","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador Now Looking to Mine $3 Trillion in Gold and Other Critical Minerals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Insurrection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Nayib Bukele: \u201cGod placed a gigantic treasure under our feet.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted by Leslie Eastman<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to initiate economic suicide by prohibiting the potential development and utilization of its national resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, under the leadership of President Nayib Bukele, the nation is looking to reverse course<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The move by Bukele\u2019s predecessor, former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren, reflected the growing rejection of mining by rural communities in central America, devastated by the industry\u2019s adverse health and environmental effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costa Rica and Honduras have both banned open-pit mining and Panama declared a moratorium on new mining concessions last year after mass protests over plans for a huge copper mine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to Bukele, El Salvador may be sitting on unmined gold reserves worth an estimated $3 trillion, approximately 8,800% of the nation\u2019s current GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a series of posts on social media platform X, Bukele projected that<\/a> the country potentially has \u201cthe largest gold deposits per square kilometer in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

According to preliminary studies cited by the president, El Salvador\u2019s gold reserves could be worth an astounding three trillion dollars \u2013 representing over 8,800% of the country\u2019s current GDP. Bukele argues that mining just 4% of the country\u2019s gold deposits could generate $131 billion, which would be equivalent to 380% of the current GDP.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
https:\/\/x.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1861882140453171700<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n

Translation: GOD PLACED A GIGANTIC TREASURE UNDER OUR FEET: El Salvador potentially has the highest density gold deposits per km\u00b2 in the world. Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the richest areas in mineral resources thanks to its volcanic activity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But it isn\u2019t just gold that is important. Studies have identified the presence of a wide range of critical metals and rare earth minerals: Cobalt, lithium, nickel, platinum, iridium, titanium, and germanium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news: He has the votes to repeal the inane legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

On December 1, Bukele announced that, in addition to gold deposits, El Salvador\u2019s territory hosts \u201cmetals of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions,\u201d news agency EFE reported. The president stated that studies have identified cobalt, lithium, nickel and \u201crare earth elements used for advanced electronics,\u201d as well as platinum, iridium, tantalum, titanium, gallium and germanium, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president\u2019s liberal, populist and reformist party, Nuevas Ideas, has the votes needed to repeal the mining ban at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to exploit our natural resources responsibly, as every country in the world does,\u201d Bukele said. He cited examples such as Qatar, Israel, Canada and Switzerland, and reiterated that \u201cthere isn\u2019t a single country that has done something as foolish as banning mining.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Many of the reports cite gallium, a rare metal with a wider array of uses in electronics. But the kicker is that the metal is also needed for thin-film solar cells<\/a>, wind power generators, and power converters for electric cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, gallium is critical for green energy, a fact clearly under-appreciated by eco-activists who are unhappy with this potential policy reversal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of these discoveries and policy reversals could not be better. As China is now banning the import of rare earth minerals to this country, it would be wonderful to expand our supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the environmental activists are unhappy<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Bukele doubled down on his proposal, and his critics quickly responded. They fear that reopening mining could contaminate water sources, especially given the amount of freshwater needed for mining operations and the risks posed by heavy metals used in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president claims that \u2018responsible mining\u2019 can be done, but there is no evidence to support this claim,\u201d Pedro Cabezas, a member of the Central American Alliance against Mining (ACAFREMIN), told Newsweek. \u201cThere are no examples of \u2018responsible mining\u2019 that haven\u2019t caused serious impacts. The effects in El Salvador would be terrible,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Bukele makes a persuasive case that a richer country is a cleaner country<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI understand the concern. El Salvador has 95% of its waters polluted. Imagine if we pollute them further; we\u2019ll end up with 97%, 98% contamination. The reality is that when 95% of your rivers are polluted, you shouldn\u2019t focus on saving the remaining 5%, but on recovering the 95% that was lost,\u201d Bukele argued on Thursday. \u201cIf we had 95% of our rivers clean, then we could focus on maintaining the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing we can do is invest billions of dollars to clean up the polluted waters. And to have those billions, we need resources that can easily be obtained from mining,\u201d he added, according to Diario El Salvador.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I think Trump should make sure Bukele gets a front-row seat at his inauguration.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
https:\/\/x.com\/ImMeme0\/status\/1737332324956574035<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Nayib Bukele: \u201cGod placed a gigantic treasure under our feet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":354690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691826059,691832008,691832009,691832010],"class_list":["post-354683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-economic-suicide","tag-el-salvador","tag-pacific-ring-of-fire","tag-president-nayib-bukele","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-16-180138.png?fit=1551%2C1004&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ugH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":288334,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288334","url_meta":{"origin":354683,"position":0},"title":"Milei\u2019s climate scepticism and the plight of Argentina\u2019s poor","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/21\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From Net Zero Watch By Andrew Montford Argentinian presidential elections don\u2019t often grab the headlines in the UK, but the eccentric character and unusual political platform of the man just elected to the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires has attracted huge attention, here and across the world. 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Treasurer Oaks was first appointed to the position in July 2021 and then elected in November 2022.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u2060Natural Resources Committee:\"","block_context":{"text":"\u2060Natural Resources Committee:","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=%e2%81%a0natural-resources-committee"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0UT-Marlo-Oaks.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0UT-Marlo-Oaks.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0UT-Marlo-Oaks.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0UT-Marlo-Oaks.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0UT-Marlo-Oaks.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=354683"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":354692,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354683\/revisions\/354692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/354690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=354683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=354683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=354683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}