Colombia would not be the same without its coal.
This mineral is part of the history of the country, of its regions communities that have arisen around its exploitation.
You can not talk about Colombia without mentioning coffee, for many the best in the world; not to mention vallenatos, from the classical minstrels to the magical fusions of Carlos Vives; or literature and art, passing through the famous Botero sculptures and the magical realism of our great Gabo.
But neither can we speak of Colombia without mentioning coal, a source for the country and for its regions of formal employment, development, opportunities and progress. The coal, for decades, has been the godfather of many generations of Colombians, to whom a black stone has allowed them to have education, housing, health and infrastructure.
Our coal accounts for 10 percent of the world’s trade in this mineral. We are the main producer of coal in Latin America, we are the eleventh place in the world, and we are the fifth largest exporter. In 2016 we achieved a historical production figure as a country, when we reached 90.5 million tons (86.1 of thermal coal and 4.4 of metallurgical).
Of the 8,866 mining titles in force in Colombia, 16 percent correspond to coal and its industry. With these 1,425 titles, coal contributed 1.35 trillion pesos in royalties in 2016, which represent 80.2 percent of the total collected by the mining sector. With this contribution, coal is literally the ‘godfather miner’ of many regions of the country where schools, roads, hospitals, and aqueducts are built with the resources of their royalties. In 2016, each ton of coal contributed around 105,000 pesos to the national GDP.
In Cesar, a department that contributes 60 percent of the country’s coal production, it is common to grow alongside a miner, be a friend of a miner’s son, see how young people want to be mining engineers and belong to some the big mining companies of the region. Mining well done in many parts of Colombia has represented for whole families a door to a better future: some 7,000 relatives of employees of the Drummond company, for example, receive educational aid to train; In addition, 526 high school graduates from their area of influence have been granted scholarships, and 358 of them already work in this company. For its part, Prodeco, through the La Jagua and Calenturitas foundations, allocates a budget for regional progress and a scholarship program for young people from neighboring municipalities.
In La Guajira, which contributes 36 percent of the national coal production, the company Cerrejón has benefited with educational aid to more than 12,000 people, and also has been developing projects of education, culture, recreation, sports, health, nutrition, basic sanitation and resettlements.
In labor matters, coal is also the engine of opportunities. It is estimated that the coal industry generates approximately 130,000 direct formal jobs in the country. Of this figure, 30,000 correspond to the large mining of Cesar and La Guajira, and 100,000 to small and medium-scale mining in Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Norte de Santander, Santander and Antioquia. Indirectly, the charcoal guild benefits almost half a million Colombians in all regions of the country through productive linkages, support to the local industry, and purchases of goods and services.
With ‘coal faith’, the previous year the sector also showed its resilience and resilience, overcoming a cycle of low prices that began in 2014. Likewise, in 2016, 85.1 million tons were exported from our country of coal, which account for 15 percent of total exports in Colombia and 71 percent of mining exports.
Coal carries our flag around the world: it is a symbol of our potential and wealth. It is enough to see the main destinations of thermal coal, among which are Turkey, the Netherlands, the United States, Spain, Israel, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Korea, Italy, Guatemala, India and the United Kingdom. For its part, our metallurgical coal (we are the fourth world exporter), distinguished ambassador of regions such as Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Norte de Santander, goes mainly to Brazil, Turkey and Japan.
We are in a historical period as a country, at a time when mining presents a great opportunity for peace. There will be new markets in the regions for charcoal entrepreneurs, who will have the possibility to expand their suppliers and generate new value chains. The Colombian godfather of mining will continue to be a regional engine, a powerful symbol of our potential, a milestone in local economies and a leading representative of mining well done to the world.
Published in the magazine Semana 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM By Silvana Habib Daza