The agreement was reached through direct negotiation between the Inga Condagua community and Libero Cobre Ltd., Copper Giant’s wholly owned Colombian subsidiary. The process was coordinated by the National Directorate of Prior Consultation under Colombia’s Ministry of Interior, and is recognized as the first full Prior Consultation completed at the exploration stage of a mining project in Colombia.

Inga de Condagua community, ANM, Ministry of Interior and Copper Giant team, after protocolization of agreements on September 20, 2025 (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

The Prior Consultation process, known locally as Consulta Previa, is mandated under Colombian law and international conventions such as ILO Convention 169. It ensures that Indigenous communities are consulted before any project that may affect their territories is initiated. The Inga Condagua Nation exercised its constitutional right to self-representation, conducting the process without intermediaries or external consultants.

The agreement follows a 2022 review by the Ministry of Interior confirming the applicability of Prior Consultation for the Inga Condagua. The formal consultation phase began in late 2024 and concluded with protocolization on September 20, 2025. The process included ten official sessions and additional dialogue spaces, with participation from the Mocoa Mayor’s Office, Corpoamazonia, and the National Mining Agency.

The agreement outlines joint initiatives to be implemented in 2026 and 2027, including:

• Intercultural education in the Inga language.
• Strengthening Indigenous governance through support for Cabildo authorities and the Indigenous Guard.
• Integration of ancestral ecological knowledge into biodiversity monitoring.
• Preservation of medicinal and spiritual heritage, including sacred plant cultivation.
• Collaborative water conservation research.
• Youth engagement and community cohesion through cultural and recreational spaces.

These initiatives align with Colombia’s 2024–2025 decrees recognizing Indigenous communities as environmental authorities, granting co-management rights over ancestral territories.

Copper Giant (Libero Cobre) Ranking in the 2025 Brujula Minera (Mining Compass) for Reputation with Government (CNW Group/COPPER GIANT RESOURCES CORP.)

The agreement provides legal clarity for Copper Giant’s operations in Mocoa. In June 2025, the company clarified that Resolution 0631, which was later suspended by the Third Civil Court of Mocoa due to procedural faults in consultation, did not apply to its existing titles. The court’s decision reinforced the importance of direct consultation with recognized Indigenous authorities.

Copper Giant previously signed a similar agreement with the Montclar community in 2022, securing formal partnerships with the two communities closest to the Mocoa project.

Copper Giant’s Colombian subsidiary, Libero Cobre Ltda., was ranked among the top 15 companies for government reputation in the 2025 edition of Brújula Minera, an annual mining-sector study led by the Centro Nacional de Consultoría, Arteaga, and the Colombian Mining Association (ACM). Notably, Copper Giant is the only non-producing company in the ranking aside from AngloGold Ashanti.

Copper Giant Resources Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on advancing the Mocoa copper-molybdenum deposit in southern Colombia. The company is part of the Fiore Group and was formerly known as Libero Copper & Gold Corporation. Its headquarters are located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Photos courtesy Copper Giant.

While BlackRock’s investment strategy does not exclusively prioritize ESG outcomes, it generally avoids investments where ESG risks have not been assessed or are significant. A company that has not invested adequately in integrating sustainability aspects may experience a disruption in its capital cycle and encounter challenges in its acquisition or merger plans.

The regulatory landscape in Colombia is following a similar trend. In 2021, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia published a technical document proposing a unified methodology for ESG reporting. The methodology for creating the report should be based on transparency, quality, and consistency of information.
The aim is to reduce the qualitative gap between large and small companies, not only for regulatory purposes but also to improve the social relationship and public perception of mining activity, and to boost the sector’s financial market.

The Superintendencia de Sociedades has established guidelines for incorporating international reporting standards into sustainability practices. These guidelines were published in External Circular 100-000010 on November 21, 2023. The circular indicates that it is recommended that the mining sector adhere to international standards for sustainability reporting. These reports should be published at least once a year for stakeholder information, as well as on the company website.

Figure 1. Percentage of disclosure of sustainability reports by mining companies in Colombia.

The Asociación Colombiana de Minería (ACM)  is a professional association representing companies in the mining sector, including those engaged in exploration, production, and services. Of the 66 member companies, 95% have a website that communicates the company’s profile, corporate, investment, and interests to stakeholders.

Of the 52 companies engaged in mineral exploration or production, 44% report on sustainability under GRI or SASB standards. The majority of these companies focus on large-scale metallic minerals and coal. It is important to note that the majority of companies that do not publish sustainability reports are engaged in the production of industrial minerals (48%), followed by metals (34%).

It is evident that a significant proportion of companies, constituting 52%, that do not disclose Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) information through official reports, do present relevant data on their websites. However, these companies are not adhering to the established national guidelines for the disclosure of such information.

Figure 2. Non-report published mining companies segmented by mineral sector.

The remaining 48% of companies, primarily engaged in the production of industrial minerals, do not disclose ESG information to their stakeholders. These results indicate that there is still significant work to be done in Colombia for mining companies of all scales and the Colombian Mining Association to effectively communicate ESG targets with all stakeholders and regulators.

While the costs of preparing and disclosing a sustainability report may be considered high for small-scale junior production companies, mining associations can offer support and encouragement in the structuring of ESG-based reporting initiatives required by regulatory entities.

Environmental protection groups, some of which may have political interests, have taken advantage of the lack of proper information by introducing popular initiatives to prevent mining activities that could affect important investments in the short or long term.

The town of Buriticá in Antioquia has been the location of both legal and illegal mining. (Credit: Loren Moss)

The Cerrejón coal mine owned by Switzerland-based Glencore, is the largest economic actor in Colombia’s La Guajira department in the far Northeast of the country near the Caribbean Sea and the Venezuelan border. The open-pit Cerrejón mine has had its share of controversy, with many local people, including the indigenous Wayúu opposing the mine, while others support it and depend upon it for their livelihoods.

During the 2024 Minexpo mining industry event organized by industry trade group Asociación Colombiana de Minería, or the Colombian Mining Association, Juan Carlos García Otero took the time to speak with Finance Colombia’s Executive Editor Loren Moss for a brief but intense interview where nothing was off limits.

Garcia, who is Cerrejón’s social affairs manager, spoke about the mine’s record regarding social and environmental responsibility, touching upon coal’s role in the global energy transition.

Loren Moss: Well, I am here with Juan Carlos García Otero. Thank you for your time. Here we are at MinExpo in Medellín. Tell me about your role and about the company you represent.

Juan Carlos García: Thank you so much, Loren. My name is Juan Carlos García Otero, I am the social affairs manager at Cerrejón. My area is in charge of securing the social license for operating our mine on La Guajira, for the benefit of all the people in that department, but also of the people in this country.

Loren Moss: Well, Cerrejón is, I think, the largest operating mine in Colombia. It’s a coal mine in La Guajira. Tell me, how many employees do you have?

Juan Carlos García: Look, maybe I should clarify that our measurement is not necessarily based on the size. The biggest and most important thing we have, that we are sure of, is that when it comes to people we are the largest. Why? We have over 12,000 employees, between direct ones and contractors, who are linked to the company and make all the development of their own lives and families through the mining operation in Cerrejón. So, in that sense, we are strongly convinced of the importance and significance it has for the department that that work connection happens.

Loren Moss: Because it’s the largest powerhouse in that region of Colombia — from Valledupar to the Atlantic coast — I cannot think of a company with more local economic impact. Tell me please, in general terms, about the importance for the economy of department capital Riohacha and La Guajira.

Juan Carlos García: Cerrejón represents between 55%-60% of the department’s gross domestic product. In that sense, we are a fundamental cornerstone of the development of the region. But we also signify over 105 billion Colombian pesos in social investment that we have done throughout last year through commitments and voluntary and mandatory executions.

We have had over 60 million liters of water delivered to a region that still needs additional efforts in order to provide water for the whole population, and in which we have increased in the last year almost 50% of that volume that we delivered.

We are a fundamental part, with over 11 billion pesos delivered in taxes and royalties, which represent almost 50% of what is delivered by the entire mining industry in Colombia. And in that regard, we leverage the whole country’s development in a fundamental way.

In that sense, I think we truly are protagonists of the development of the region and of Colombia.

Loren Moss: I visited the area on a trip. I was not there for anything related to your company but I stayed at your hotel. That hotel is wonderful — with a view of the mine in the distance. Really, it’s like the best hotel in the region. We went to visit Manaure. Anyway, another thing I noticed when we visited some rural villages — some Wayúu people — is that there was not even a mobile signal or electricity. You are not the power company and you are not the phone company. But apart from the employment and everything, can you tell me about the contribution you offer to the region?

Juan Carlos García: Look, a few things to tell you: The first is that the hotel is not ours, we promoted the arrival of investment for that hotel to be built, and we have a small participation that serves a social purpose in its development. We are basically leveraging tourism, we are strengthening the development capabilities of the community from that area, so that they can get to know the region — besides the existence of Cerrejón. La Guajira is a department worth getting to know, and we are aware that we need to make contributions and to leverage others’ investments to make that happen.

Now, you said you got to know communities, and you say they are not related to us. But they are! And, actually, if you look at exhibits at this exposition, we can see there are communities that we have brought here. Because part of our effort is to generate capabilities and development so that those cultural, productive, and employment activities can happen in the department. And so that people can offer their products in a direct way with better commercialization. So, what we do there is strengthen those capabilities.

When it comes to development, our contributions are focused on facilitating that the different actors — governmental in this case, when we are referring to energy matters — can carry out their functions. In that regard, we have been part of the solution, contributing with our assets to problem-solving, like in the case of Uribia. At this moment, we have some preliminary agreements that allow us to facilitate the access to Cerrejón’s power line, for the improvement of the power in that municipality. And in Manaure as well.

Additionally, we have facilitated our resources to achieve the connectivity of a very important area, the harbor area and Cabo de la Vela, to the national electrical system. If that construction had not been done with Cerrejón’s assistance, those communities would probably not have achieved that — or not have been on the path to attaining such development — through the ultimate entities responsible, the state and the local operator.

So, what do we do? We incorporate ourselves into the solution. We are aware that we are not the solution. But we are more aware that we are part of the solution that can be achieved in La Guajira.

The entrance to 2024 Minexpo, the largest annual gathering for the mining industry in Colombia. (Credit: Loren Moss)

Loren Moss: Well, you are doing really necessary work. It’s needed. There are many places that depend on coal, but long-term, in many places — including the president here in Colombia — they do not see it as an ultra-long-term thing. What is your position as a producer of a product that is necessary now for the short and medium term? And when talking long-term, what is your plan as a company? What is the long-term environmental plan, so it can be successful as a business — but also make long-term contributions with everything that‘s changing in the environmental setting?

Juan Carlos García: I understand. Look, I think that you are touching on many variables that would not be responsible of me to address. Because I am not the one managing them. I am not the one managing the world’s energy matrix. I am not the one who defines how the production of energy will be managed — or how it will be managed in other places.

I cannot give you an answer in that sense. But what I can make totally clear for you is that we, today, have a commitment — and it is to make the most of the entire Cerrejón operation from the standpoint of the people. Meaning, on the basis of the people being able to understand the opportunity that a mining operation represents in an area that needs development. And we need to leverage that effort so that they, when coal stops being part of their reality definitively — a part of their environment — whenever that may happen, they have the alternatives. They will have visualized the options and have built a future leveraged on this reality today that allows us to help them the way we do.

Loren Moss: Here at the event, at MinExpo, we have members of the Wayúu community. Some are producers of dairy, artisans, and musicians. As a big sponsor at this MinExpo event, tell me about the activities you do to promote the development of not only the Wayúu people, but also for all the people who live there in the local area and La Guajira?

Juan Carlos García: Well, look, I believe you would need a show with many episodes for me to tell you everything. But I am going to tell you about only some of the things we do, and I will try to do a run through things we have here.

I want to start off with the musicians. We have an orchestra here, and we do a great amount of work so the guys stay away from vices — from drugs, from activities that are not positive — and connect with music from the point of view of their tradition and their culture. We try to make it possible for music to be a job alternative, like it is for over 50 guys who have been in the orchestra and today do that job professionally. That is part of what we believe in.

We also support sports. We have a huge commitment to strengthening football [soccer] — a sport that is valued and appreciated in La Guajira — and of a championship that we sponsor — and from which [Colombian and Liverpool FC superstar] Luis Díaz came out. You’ve probably heard of him and he has been in those championships.

We continue to believe that strengthening those spaces is useful — not only because of what it signifies, like stories as important as Luis’ — but for the amount of people that distract themselves with sports and what it represents for their lives and their health.

We support enterprises. We support companies. We have companies that develop their company objectives through the direct hiring from Cerrejón so that they are able to generate economy, employment. and sustainability — as well as gain experience in the world of business and trade. They learn hand in hand with a company like Cerrejón.

Then there the artisan crafts. A few years ago, the artisans only produced the supplies, and they would sell it to third parties that were the ones earning the profits. We have been working on strengthening the designs, strengthening entrepreneurship, strengthening the capabilities — and that allows them to make the sales themselves. We take them to every fair event that we can, and they make their own sales directly. That has led, for example, to them surpassing over 100 million pesos in sales last year at the Expoartesanías fair in Bogota.

We have also worked on the culture. We build hand in hand with the communities, including Wayúy and black people in that territory, and that is are very valuable and they teach us very important things. But we also need to highlight their language, their traditions, understand them, and co-exist with them.

That is just part of what we do. Here, at the fair, we have brought only a small sample. But, without a doubt, if we get the chance we can tell you about it in greater detail later on.

Group head Santiago Ángel made this projection during a recent press conference, according to local newspaper La República, highlighting his optimism for this “resilient” industry compared to the relatively underwhelming $2.6 billion USD that it has welcomed over the last four years.

“We were able to pass the down cycle, and hopefully we will not miss the good cycle,” said Ángel.

While the drop in revenue from low oil prices has hit the nation the hardest in recent years, the general fall in commodities prices across the board has reduced incoming revenue to the entire extraction sector.

Beyond pricing, the mining sector also faced new risks in Colombia over the past 18 months. Several communities across the country have held popular referendum ballots in which the local citizens have voted to ban mining in their municipalities.

While legal disputes remain ahead, the climate has put pressure on companies, particularly international mining interests, to work harder on community outreach to convince Colombians that mining is in their interest rather than something that will bring environmental harm without significant economic benefits for people in the area, as many social and conservation groups have claimed.

READ MORE: Multinationals, Informal Miners ‘Have to Live Together,’ says Antioquia Secretary of Mines

Though the federal government has been generally supportive of the industry, a presidential election will be held later this month that will bring a new head of state to the capital. Ángel, among other stakeholders in the mining world, are trying to ensure that the incoming leadership will be receptive to his message.

“We hope that the government that arrives will have the sensibility to understand this industry,” said Ángel, as reported by La República.

It was the first Sunday of October in Colombia, and Sucre, population 7,000, had just held a special referendum in which residents were asked if they wanted mining and oil projects in their mostly agricultural county. Ninety-nine percent of voters said “no” to mining, fearing that plans for a large limestone mine would pollute local water sources and affect the region’s dairy farms.

Photo: Residents of Sucre celebrate results of a special referendum on October 1. In this small Colombian town, 99% of voters said they did not want mining projects in the mostly agricultural county. (Credit: Juan Carlos Higuera)

“This was a vote for life,” said Marelba Quiroga, a 60-year-old campesina. “We want to preserve this territory for future generations.”

With the October 1 referendum, Sucre became the seventh Colombian county or municipality to vote against mining or oil exploration this year. Another 40 counties have expressed interest in holding similar referendums, including two oil-rich municipalities in the department of Meta.

The referendums, known in Colombia as consultas populares, have become a threat to oil and mining companies developing new projects in Colombia and could potentially force the national government to backtrack on licenses that it has already granted. Analysts say that these locally organized referendums could also change how Colombia grants licenses in the future.

“These referendums have created a lot of concern among investors,” Santiago Ángel, director of the industry’s Colombian Mining Association (ACM), told Finance Colombia. He added that there are worries about anti-industry campaigning that is “laden with misinformation.”

A poster outside a farm in Sucre urges residents to vote against mining. (Credit: Manuel Rueda)

The spate of local referendums started in March, when the municipality of Cajamarca in Tolima voted to ban mining from its territory. Cajamarca’s residents said that plans by South African mining company AngloGold Ashanti to set up a massive goldmine in the area would pollute three rivers and change the municipality’s emphasis on agriculture.

“It was a way to send a message to the national government and tell them we don’t want that,” said Jimmy Torres, an environmental activist who campaigned for the Cajamarca referendum. “The government is making deals with companies and handing out licenses without seeking [prior] consent from the community…and that bothers people a lot.”

“These referendums have created a lot of concern among investors” – Santiago Ángel, director of Colombia’s National Mining Association

Johannesburg-based AngloGold suspended exploration in the area following the referendum, in which 97% of voters rejected mining, but the company has still not renounced its titles.

The company said in a statement that it is hoping it can “build consensus” with the community to develop responsible mining in the area. AngloGold estimates that its mine in Cajamarca could contain up to 28 million ounces of gold, which would be worth more than $30 billion USD at today’s price.

“Diverse reasons — which range from the institutional, the political, and particularly the social, with the recent referendum — oblige us to take the unfortunate decision to stop all project activities, and with it all employment and investment, until there’s certainty about mining activity in the country and in Tolima,” said AngloGold in a statement.

Election judges count mining referendum votes at a voting center in Sucre on October 1. (Credit: Juan Carlos Higuera)

In Sucre, the latest municipality to hold a referendum, local residents also said that mining would threaten local water sources. A study conducted by a local consortium of environmental groups and universities claims that the area’s largest mining title, called JGL 111, would have put 26 local streams at risk and could have left up to 1,500 people without a reliable source of water.

“Communities have now discovered that they have a tool to reject these decisions imposed on them by the central government.” – Diana Rodríguez of Dejusticia

Sucre Mayor Javier Antonio Rojas pushed for the anti-mining referendum. He told Colombia Finance that he was also bothered by the national government’s practice of not seeking consent from municipal governments before issuing mining titles. “Please don’t make decisions from a desk in Bogotá without coming here,” he said.

So what is the effect of these referendums? Minister of Mines and Energy German Arce has said that these local elections are not “legally binding” because, according to his view of the Colombian constitution, the national government owns the resources that lie under the country’s soil and is entitled to govern their use and distribution.

But Diana Rodriguez, an environmental analyst at human rights think tank Dejusticia, told Finance Colombia that the minister has an “incomplete understanding” of Colombia’s laws.

According to Rodríguez, a 1994 law on municipal government says that municipalities have the right, through local consultations, to make decisions on economic activities that change how land is used. A 2016 ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court reaffirmed the legality of municipal referendums and also said that municipalities can regulate mining activity if they fear exploration could do environmental damage.

Rodríguez said that municipalities could potentially use referendum results in lawsuits against mining titles.  Whether a referendum can lead to the cancellation of a mining title is something that will have to be sorted out by the courts, said Rodríguez.

“The way in which mining decisions were being carried out in this country was very centralized,” said Rodríguez. “Communities have now discovered that they have a tool to reject these decisions imposed on them by the central government.”

Sucre’s farmers are staunch opponents of mining projects in their region. Many people in Sucre raise cattle for dairy products, others grow blackberries. (Credit: Juan Carlos Higuera)

Orlando Velandia, president of Colombia’s public National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), told Finance Colombia that the 2016 high court decision is already changing some procedures. Velandia said that his agency is now trying to build consensus with municipal councils before handing out new mining titles.

According to Colombia’s Ministry of Mines, the ANH and its sister titling agency, the National Mining Agency, have visited more than 90 municipalities during the past six months to seek consensus for mining and oil projects.

“We cannot afford to lose this industry…I think we can save this marriage.” – Orlando Velandia, president of the ANH.

That’s not to say that Velandia is happy with the referendums. The ANH president believes that in many cases the votes have been held with little prior discussion on the actual pros and cons of mining and oil exploration. In his view, campaigners have often presented voters with “false” dilemmas.

Velandia said the national government will continue to promote mining and oil despite the referendum results. Even with more votes planned across the country, the national government is still providing incentives to the oil industry, including tax refunds on oil exploration work.

The Colombian government currently relies on these industries for roughly 25% of tax revenue, and oil alone makes up more than 40% of the country’s exports, according to the ANH. Income from oil and mining is especially vital for the country as it enters its so-called post-conflict era and works to develop remote areas that have long been under the grip of insurgent groups, Velandia said.

“We cannot afford to lose this industry,” said the ANH president.

In a country where mining has become a hot-button issue pitting the private sector against rural farmers, he hopes that the municipalities and voters consider all the implications wrapped up in these referendums.

“We urge them to not make rushed decisions,” said Velandia. “I think we can save this marriage.”