...Clarifications on alleged human rights and environmental violations by the company LIBERO COBRE LTD - LIBERO COPPER & GOLD, in the Mocoa Copper Project, department of Putumayo in Colombia.

...From the outset, it is important to specify that Libero Cobre Ltd. is a company legally constituted in Colombia, with social, environmental, labour, business and mining responsibility, which carries out activities within the framework of the constitutional and legal legislation in force in our country. Libero Cobre Ltd. is the holder of four mining concession contracts, located in the municipality of Mocoa, department of Putumayo, namely: FJT-131, FJT-132, FJT-141 and FJT-142. The aforementioned concession contracts are located at Carrera 38 No. 26-17, office 525, Tower 2, Centro Empresarial BIO 26, Medellín - Antioquia. Barrio Villa del Río - Carrera 10 No. 20-50 - Mocoa - Putumayo...

At the end of February 2022, the company started some preliminary works of preparation for the exploration, only and exclusively in 619 hectares located within the Concession Contract FJT-141. Such works were suspended by the Company, in immediate compliance with the provisions of the Putumayo Territorial Directorate of Corpoamazonía in Auto DTP No. 202 of April 6, 2022....

...[I]t is clear that the officials who, with the excuse of regulating land use in their territory, arbitrarily extended their powers to regulate the use of subsoil, especially after the issuance of Ruling SU-095 of 2018, would be guilty of disciplinary offences for substantial unlawfulness, due to the open violation of the Constitution and a binding judicial precedent....

It is important to mention that the activities carried out by Libero Cobre Ltd. are located within the area of the polygon described in Resolution No.1025 of 31 December 2019, issued by the Directorate of Prior Consultation of the Ministry of the Interior. Area in which, as reported by the Ministry of Interior in the certification contained in the aforementioned act, there is no presence of Indigenous, Black or Roma communities. This is the main reason for considering that the aforementioned consultation is not required or appropriate for the exploration work carried out by Libero Cobre Ltd....

The company has the letters sent by the communities, in which they invite us to participate and request our support, as well as the minutes of delivery of the support in kind provided for the celebration of this important date....

...Likewise, these entities verified and evidenced that the company did not make any use by exploitation or dumping of the water resource of the Mocoa River, taking into account that it only used rainwater, complemented with an operation scheme of "zero dumping". With the above, it can be seen that the company LIBERO COBRE LTD has acted in full compliance with the environmental requirements for the exploration phase it carried out, and with total transparency before the environmental, mining and local authorities...

(Translated by the BHRRC)