RE: Local newspaper article from March29 Apr 2021 12:16
The modification of the Urban Planning Regulations of Castilla y León (RUCyL) to allow extractive activity in protected rustic soils opens a new time for mining in El Bierzo, and not only for the Europa Metals project, in the area of ??Toral de los Vados, which could fit into the new legislation.
The delegate of the College of Geologists of Castilla y León, Juan Manuel Piñeiro, considers that, above all, it is a "fair" regulatory change since every project is already subject to the assessment of environmental impact, "which requires justifying the condition of the project on the ground where it is intended to develop ».
On March 15, Decree 6/2021, of March 11, which modifies the RUCyL, was published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León.
"It has cost a lot and it is good news not only for the sector but also to promote research on our native natural resources," says Piñeiro.
In El Bierzo, the modification can facilitate the study of new mining projects with the advantage, according to the head of the College of Geologists, that “we already know what a mining project entails; the good and the bad ”, highlights Piñeiro. Employment and impact on the landscape and natural resources.
The delegation of the College of Geologists in Castilla y León has actively participated in all the regulatory changes since 2018 through the Regional Mining Commission. "We have collaborated directly with the General Directorate of Mines of the Junta de Castilla y León, in order to modify the regional urban regulations that prohibited extractive activity on land classified as rustic with protection in municipal urban regulations", explains Piñeiro. The first step was taken in 2019 when articles 23 and 25 of the Urban Planning Law of Castilla y León were modified, differentiating energy mining from other extractive activities.
Extractive activities are defined as «extractive activities of industrial rocks and minerals, metallic mining, ornamental rocks, quarry products and mineral and thermal waters, including underground and open-pit mining operations, as well as constructions and facilities related to their operation. and to the in situ treatment of the extracted raw material ”, he specifies. But for its application "it was necessary to modify the Urban Planning Regulations of Castilla y León, which is the one that establishes the use of the land," the delegate points out. Headquartered in Madrid, the College has delegations in Aragon, Galicia, Asturias, Catalonia and the Basque Country.
The rise in the international price of some metals is generating business expectations in old Bierzo farms. Copper, lead, silver, tungsten, gold and marble are distributed more than twenty permits and administrative concessions in the region, to which are added the 56 of the old Coto Wagner, where there is already a business plan to reopen the old exploitation of this mineral in the municipality of Congosto.