Investigation: Project Rafael
Colombia: a mining giant above the law?
Planted on a hill in the south of the department of Cordoba, in northern Colombia, the Cerro Matoso S.A. mine is the largest nickel mine on the American continent. © graphic studio of France Médias Monde
Text by: Angélica Pérez | Aabla Jounaïdi Follow
8 min
RFI is partnering with the Rafael Project of the international investigative journalism consortium Forbidden Stories to continue the work of Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno, who was murdered on October 16, 2022 in unexplained circumstances. In his articles, he exposed the questionable practices of large mining companies operating in the northern department of Córdoba. Among them, one of the largest nickel mines in the world, Cerro Matoso S.A., against which neighboring communities have been fighting for more than 10 years, in vain.
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In 2013, we shut down the mine. We lasted 38 days," says Yoli de la Ossa, governor of the Bello Horizonte Zenú Council, an indigenous community. It embodies the battle of these ethnic communities in southern Cordoba against the mining giant. Planted on a hill in this department of northern Colombia, the Cerro Matoso S.A. mine is the largest nickel mine on the American continent. This strategic metal for the industry has been extracted for 40 years.
At the time, in response to the blockage, the management ended up signing an "agreement of understanding" with the people and the government. Insufficient for the indigenous communities, determined to take legal action to recognize the responsibility of the group in the pollution of the environment and the violation of their fundamental rights.
Five years of defeats in court
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Since the beginning of extractive activities in 1982, we have felt their negative impact on the territory, the environment, water sources and health. " recalls Emanuel Solis, at the time representative of the Community Council of Black Communities of San José de Uré, 10 kilometers from the mine. In this "palenqué" (fortified village founded by freed slaves - Editor's note), "people began to have skin problems, fish began to disappear and cases of cancer and miscarriages increased," says Emanuel Solis.
Emanuel Solis, former representative of the Council of Black Communities of San José de Uré, 10 kilometers from the mine. © Aabla Jounaïdi / RFI
Leading the protest at the time were the president of the Black Community Council Luis Hernán Jacobo and the chief of the Zenú Israel indigenous reserve Manuel Aguilar. On behalf of their peoples, the two leaders have brought what is called a "guardianship action": a procedure by which any litigant can denounce a violation of his fundamental constitutional rights, an innovation resulting from the 1991 Constitution.
In July 2014, the targets of the communities are called the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Mining Agency and the mining giant Cerro Matoso S.A. In their supervisory action, they denounce the deterioration of the health of the populations, via the toxic discharges of the mine which produces ferronickel - an alloy of iron and nickel - accused of deteriorating the health of the populations, via the toxic discharges of the multinational.
Ethnic groups are also demanding to benefit from the economic benefits of the mine, as well as the guarantee of "prior consultation" before any project on the territory, a right supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution.
The beginning of a protracted legal battle for the indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations of the municipalities of Montelíbano, Puerto Libertador and San José de Uré, territories where the mine operates.
Former miners seeking recognition
At the forefront of this legal battle against Cerro Matoso S.A. are the former miners.
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We were exposed to extreme temperatures and carcinogens " says Victor Pineda, a worker for 20 years at the nickel mine. But on his occupational health medical record, "it is nowhere marked that I was exposed, even if only to carbon monoxide," says the former miner, on the peaceful balcony of his house in Montería.
The combustion of coal is at the heart of Cerro Matoso's industrial process: the extracted ore must be heated to at least 900°C before being melted again to obtain ferronickel. This is where particles, gases, dust and very high temperatures combine and turn the workspace into hell on earth. After years on this diet, Victor Pineda develops strange vertigo, almost daily. Tests reveal what's called "sympathetic nervous system dysautonomia": a cardiovascular disease that requires him to swallow about seven medications a day to regulate his heart rate and anxiety disorders.
For years, they are 70 former colleagues to seize the justice to have their ailments recognized as an occupational disease. But in the absence of a professional medical record mentioning the risks, it is a failure. Their requests are rejected one after the other. For its part, the company ensures that it does not exploit "any carcinogenic substances" for humans in the mine.
The communities' demands have not been resolved through the Monitoring Committee of the agreement agreement with the company, nor before the courts. Two courts and the Council of State rejected the application for guardianship. It took almost five years for the Constitutional Court to rule in their favour. Five years during which the debate raged throughout the country.
The pavement in the pond? The government's decision, on December 27, 2012, to extend the mining title of Cerro Matoso S.A. until 2044, in exchange for the promise to increase its production capacity and invest $2.5 million in social investment projects.
Conditions deemed too favorable to the company, including by the Procuraduría, the national supervisory body of civil servants, which then opens an investigation. Its conclusions: technical studies to serve as a basis for negotiations between the State and Cerro Matoso S.A. were not carried out in time. Others, not at all.
All these irregularities have fuelled the debate even in Congress, where the company is pilloried by senators and members of civil society, for its alleged responsibility for the contamination of Montelíbano's waters, or even possible failures to pay fees due to the State. But the soufflé eventually falls: the mining group can continue its activities without being worried... until justice comes into play.
Victor Pineda, a former miner at Cerro Matoso S.A., has been fighting for years for recognition of his illness, to no avail. © Aabla Jounaïdi / RFI
A short-lived victory
In 2017, the Constitutional Court issued a landmark judgment which, based on a report by the Institute of Forensic Medicine, confirmed the "highly probable" causal link between the extraction activities of Cerro Matoso S.A. and the deterioration of the health of the communities located in the area affected by the project as well as the impact on the environment. On this occasion, the justice that sent teams on the ground disputes the distances provided by the company.
The distances between the mine and the different communities. © RFI / Forbidden stories
The Court also confirms that Cerro Matoso S.A.'s environmental licence does not meet the standards set by the 1991 Constitution. A victory for communities. But the appeal filed by the mining group empties this judgment of its substance.
T-733: a historic stop against the mine
In 2017, the Colombian Constitutional Court issued a ruling whose terms, according to the communities, had not been respected by the mining giant Cerro Matoso S.A.
Cerro Matoso S.A. is ordered to pay compensation to the populations surrounding the mine.
The company must conduct a prior consultation of communities on measures to prevent and mitigate its impact and finance a special fund for ethno-development.
The company must provide health care to the populations surrounding the mine.
The Ministry of Health must conduct a medical assessment and establish an epidemiological profile of the communities.
- On appeal, Cerro Matoso S.A. succeeded in having the obligation to pay damages to the communities and the obligation to finance a special development fund annulled.
Even for obligations that remain in force, the account is not there. "Cerro Matoso did not comply with the court order," said Luis Hernán Jacobo, the man who launched the legal battle on behalf of ethnic communities 10 years ago.
Ecosystems are still contaminated by slag emanating from the mine, and diseases attributed to the activities of Cerro Matoso S.A. are multiplying. As for the measures that the group is supposed to take to assess the impact of its activities on the environment, their implementation is considered incomplete or even opaque by the communities.
Video capture of drone, above the Cerro Matoso nickel mine. © France 24
The mining group's officials refuse to take full responsibility for the region's health problems. "There are no health effects, because of the presence of the mine," said Jorge Ospina, against the advice of the court in 2017.
It is true that, moreover, the region suffers from a lack of infrastructure, including hospitals, and services as essential as drinking water. This is the price of the absence of the state. The latter has faded in favor of the "mining locomotive", has left the territory and populations at the mercy of armed groups. It has also long deserted the field of environmental legislation, which should ideally regulate toxic emissions of iron and nickel.
The fact that regulators form a maze of uncoordinated institutions does not make things any easier. "State institutions have always considered the environment as a problem," said Alvaro Pardo, president of the National Agency responsible for granting mining titles.
The man who received RFI in his offices in the center of Bogota is no stranger to the Cerro Matoso case. He had actively participated in the debates against the mining giant, his environmentalist convictions slung over his shoulder. Recently appointed to his post by leftist President Gustavo Petro, his task is arduous: to further control the mining industry. The neighboring communities of Cerro Matoso, many of whom voted for Colombia's first leftist president, are watching him.
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