Gran Colombia Gold - Taking Underground Exploration to New Highs

Gran Colombia Gold is a leader in exploring and producing gold and silver. It is currently the largest producer of these minerals from underground mining in Colombia.
While the headquarters are in Canada, the operations are located in the municipalities of Segovia and Remedios in Colombia. They have four mines: El Silencio, Providencia, Sandra K and Carla.

“Gran Colombia Gold has been able to maintain continuous growth in gold production, which has allowed the company to provide more than 1,500 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs, benefiting the families that depend on the operation in the region,” says Lombardo Paredes Arenas, CEO.

The company has always focused on developing well-done mining, accompanied by environmentally friendly processes that meet international standards with the latest technology. In addition, they have imbibed an excellent corporate citizen approach that brings progress, well-being, and quality of life to the inhabitants where the operations are located.

The Factors that have Contributed to the Company’s Success

• Employees as the central axis of the company.
• Plans that promote economic reactivation with projects that involve strengthening local companies, poverty reduction, promotion of gender equity, and legality in the regions.
• Joint work with Community, State, and Private Companies.
• Defined Social Investment Strategies – ESG.
• Continuous and technological growth that promotes well-done mining for the progress of the regions and the country.

The Product Portfolio

Since 2010, the company has been carrying out an extensive exploration and drilling program around its mines to identify new resources and expand gold production, which has reached around 220,000 ounces per year.

They have a new polymetallic plant in Colombia with 200 tons of waste processing to obtain a single daily production of lead and zinc concentrates of around 7,300 kg and 9,400 kg, respectively.

With this plant, its main objective is to provide its sustainability model with a new process for caring for the environment.

Challenges

When asked about the pandemic times,Lombardo Paredes Arenas says, “For our company, the priority is always the life and health of people. As a first measure, the emergency preparedness and response system was activated to assess the risks; subsequently, preventive isolations were carried out, protocols and biosecurity measures were activated, and periodic evaluations for Covid-19 followed by complete vaccination of all employees and their families.”

People and Social Initiatives

The company understands that the fundamental basis and the success has been their employees; that is why the company leaves no stone unturned to ensure their well-being.
“A company is what its people are, and it is from the union of all stakeholders that great achievements become a reality. Likewise, we have a strong relationship with the government, establishing common objectives for the benefit of the communities and the construction of the country,” says the CEO.

The company is proud of its formalization success story; more than 2,600 miners were illegal and are now legalized to be part of its production chain. The company runs the only bilingual school where more than 4,000 children have received scholarships. They have laid more than 21 kilometers of roads. They have created employment for women of the region who helped make more than 4,000 masks during the pandemic; a project carried out in alliance with the Government of Antioquia.

The company is focused on the well-being of the community. “Our commitment is to be part of the economic and social growth of the region with alliances that lead us to improve the quality of life of the municipalities where we have a presence. Our purpose is that we grow hand in hand with the community,” the CEO added.

The company promotes the Soccer for Peace program, created the Centro Agroempresarial-SENA-Gran Colombia Gold to offer technical education, and promotes leisure and recreation at El Club Comfama Marceleth. The Comfama-Gran Colombia Gold Kindergarten was set up to offer quality early childhood education. All these initiatives are thanks to the joint work between the state, private companies, and the community to construct a better country.

Future Outlook and Advice to Entrepreneurs

The company plans to continue on the growth path that adds to the economic reactivation of Colombia while generating value through mutually beneficial relationships with all its stakeholders, collaborators, and the community as a priority. Also on the agenda are new plants like the new polymetallic plant that processes lead and zinc. Expansion to new mining markets like Guyana and Spain is also under consideration.

“Be socially responsible, do good mining, respect laws, the environment, and promote the economy and growth of the regions where you work. All of this makes the sector stronger, provides for a positive reputation, and increases your competitiveness,” suggests the CEO to new entrepreneurs and companies.