Colombia Signs 9 Mineral Exploration and Development Contracts, Plans to Invest 54 Billion Pesos

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 9, Colombia's National Mining Agency signed 9 special exploration and development contracts for strategic minerals under the framework of the 2026 mining block bidding round, covering copper, gold, polymetallic, and phosphate minerals, with planned exploration investment of approximately 54 billion Colombian pesos. Of these, 8 contracts belong to the copper, gold, and polymetallic minerals bidding round, and 1 belongs to the phosphate minerals bidding round. The contracts involve strategic mining areas in 5 departments: Cesar, La Guajira, Antioquia, Tolima, and Huila.

The contracts cover municipalities including San Diego, La Paz, Urumita, La Jagua del Pilar, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Buriticá, Chaparral, and Yaguará. The contracts target strategic mineral areas designated by the state, with the winning bidders assuming the corresponding mineral exploration and development contractual obligations.

On the same day, the National Mining Agency announced the signing progress of 44 mining rights documents of different types, involving 14 departments and 32 municipalities nationwide, covering 7 categories of mining rights. Among them, Antioquia has 10, Huila has 9, Chocó has 6, and Norte de Santander has 5.

The mining rights documents include 19 mining concession contracts, involving 11 medium-scale mining projects and 8 small-scale mining projects respectively, distributed across 8 municipalities in 4 departments. The minerals involved include metallic minerals, construction materials, industrial minerals, and coal.

As of September 29, Colombia's National Mining Agency had issued award resolutions for two strategic mining areas, AEM 23 and AEM 42, in the copper, gold, and associated minerals bidding process, with Zijin Mining Group South America Mineral Exploration Company as the winning bidder. The specific exploration and development activities in the relevant mining areas must be carried out in accordance with the corresponding contracts and licensing requirements.