DUE DILIGENCE ROADBLOCKS IN MINERAL TRANSACTIONS IN COLOMBIA

• Jurisdiction: Derecho Internacional

International Mining and Oil & Gas Law, Development, and Investment (Apr 2019)
CHAPTER 16B
DUE DILIGENCE ROADBLOCKS IN MINERAL TRANSACTIONS IN COLOMBIA
Ignacio Santamaría
Angela María Salazar

[Page 16B-1]

IIGNACIO SANTAMARÍA is Head of the Mining & Natural Resources, Tax, and International Trade Departments at Lloreda Camacho & Co, in Bogotá. Mr. Santamaría has a Law degree from the Universidad del Rosario, two postgraduate degrees in Financial Law from Universidad de los Andes and in Administrative Law from the Universidad del Rosario, and also holds a post-graduate degree in Antitrust Law from the University of Konstanz in Germany. Ignacio has more than 25 years of experience in matters related to Mining Law, including mining joint ventures structuring, acquisition of mining companies, establishment of special purpose vehicles, option agreements and purchase agreements of mining titles and related; building, construction and operating mining agreements, earth removal agreements, easements, mining due diligence processes, preparation of the required documents from a Colombian legal perspective for listing processes on the TSX, TSXV, and ASX, representation of clients before administrative authorities, litigation processes in connection with mining and land restitution, credit agreements and documents to secure the credit agreements, nullity and reinstatement of rights actions before the administrative courts, and negotiation with communities of all types of agreements including previous consultation processes and participation agreements, forest reserve extraction processes and environmental permitting in general. He is an active member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and the Interpacific Bar Association, and has been recently ranked Band 1 in Natural Resources - Mining by Chambers & Partners for two consecutive years. Additionally, he has been invited by the National Association of Industries to be a speaker at the XII Feria Minera 2016, and by the IPBA 2018 at the annual meeting - Current Trends on Environmental Law event.

1. Land titles and real vs. personal property with regard to mineral interests.

Colombia's Constitution clearly establishes a difference between the surface and the subsurface rights and also determines that the State is the owner of the subsurface and of all the minerals in there.

Based upon such premise, the legislature in the Colombian Mining Code (Law 685 of 2001), declares that all minerals, whether located in the surface or in the subsurface, belong to the Colombian State and that said ownership is independent and autonomous towards the ownership of the lands.

Also under the light of said grounds, the Mining Code determines that the sole authorized person to grant permits to explore and exploit the minerals in Colombia, is...