The Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy, Omar Andrés Camacho Morales, presented for approval of the House of Representatives the bill through which the Colombian minerals company Ecominerales would be established.
Ecominerales is conceived as a state industrial and commercial corporation, with legal personality, administrative and financial autonomy, and independent capital, subject to the fiscal control of the National Comptroller's Office and ruled in its internal organization and relations with third parties under private law.
The drafted purpose for Ecominerales is the exploration, construction and assembly, exploitation, mine closure, transformation, mineral beneficiation and/or commercialization of strategic minerals and other minerals, their derivatives, and products in Colombia or abroad, including related activities such as prospecting or research.
For the execution of this purpose, the bill proposes that Ecominerales may administer the assets that the State receives due to the reversion at the termination of mining titles, enter into all contracts and transactions it deems necessary for its purpose, become a part of other companies, associations, corporations, or foundations that it deems similar, related, connected, or complementary to its purpose, among other powers that are necessary or useful for the better development of its purpose.
Regarding the organizational structure of Ecominerales, the bill proposes the leadership to be entrusted to a president appointed by the Colombian President and a board of directors composed of ministers and directors of entities in the sector, a representative of labor organizations in the mining sector, and an independent member appointed by the Colombian President.
Finally, it is determined that the capital of Ecominerales will be formed, among other sources, by the assets reverted to the State upon the termination of mining titles, contributions from the National Government through mechanisms of capital strengthening, and the resources that the National Mining Agency or the National Hydrocarbons Agency contribute from their surplus resources during the first five years.
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