I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Julio Benedetti, president, and Alberto Arosemena logistical coordinator of Bell Haven Mining Corp. Over the past three years I have heard an increasing undercurrent of talks of mining activities on the Azuero Peninsula around the province of Tonosi. A few months ago I came across a notice posted by the district of Tonosi that declared it a province free of mining activities (http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=8430) and at the same time a report posted by Bell Haven that declared its mine in Cerro Quema would be fully operational by years end.

Looking at google earth and the maps I had of the area it looked as if Cerro Quema ran into the Province of Tonosi, which would infer the company was planning to be operating in direct contradiction to the laws established by the municipality. To clarify I set up a meeting with the company and received a full hour long report on their areas of operation, techniques, corporate social responsibility agenda, etc. Not only was the planned mine 15 kilometers outside of the provincial borders of Tonosi, but their operational ethos including: their constant technological upgrades designed to not only increase efficiency but to also constantly reduced their environmental footprint; their aggressive social betterment activities; and their ecological preservation initiatives were encouraging.     

The company has purchased 800 hectares of land around Cerro Quema, of which only 50 will be actively worked. To date 600 hectares have been reforested, 108 members of the local community are currently employed, a council with representation from the fives surrounding communities has been established to encourage communication and evolvement of the local population, micro lending programs have been launched and Bell Haven has continuously paid well above minimum wage to its employees. Numerous local enterprising individuals have utilized the micro lending program to launch little cattle businesses or stores.  

The company has recently employed a new technology that reduces the processing plant from 31 hectares to 4 hectares. A closed processing system is utilized which neutralizes the chemicals used in the leeching process to extract gold including Cyanide prior to releasing any of the material into he open environment. Comprehensive sediment and erosion control systems have been designed and implemented to keep the local rivers from filling with unwanted sentiment and runoff from the mine.

The company has received the ISO 1400 stamp; an internationally recognized seal, which infers a strict adherence to internationally accepted practices designed to minimize an organizations impact on the environment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000).

While there is no debating the fact that the environment would be better off without mining it is inevitability, and Bell Haven appears to be taking a very proactive role in conducting their operations in a way that in fact benefits the local communities and has as minimal an impact on the local environment as possible. For further information on Bell Haven visit their website at (http://www.bellhavencg.com/inc/index.php).