Dominican Republic national park bill unconstitutional: Glencore

Santo Domingo.- The opinion of Falconbridge was swift following the decision of the Dominican Congress to urgently pass the bill that declares Loma Miranda as a National Park. The mining company warned that this decision violates the Constitution regarding property rights.

"Declaring Loma Miranda a national park would create a bad precedent in the country as a violation of the mining law, the legal certainty and the rule of law, and the credibility to invest in the Dominican Republic would be vulnerable," said Falconbridge in a statement released today.

The company makes an analysis of the environmental, economic, legal and social exploitation on the impact of Loma Miranda, and says that to date there are no conclusive studies that allow to make the right decision on whether this area should be a national park or not.

It also explains that Loma Miranda has about 19.3 million tons of mineral deposits, which if exploited would benefit not only the provinces Monseñor Nouel and La Vega, but the Dominican State, for the economy would receive 7,500 million dollars for the next 20 years; and of course it would benefit the mining company as well.