Editing Economy of El Salvador (section)

=== Mining ===
{{Main|Mining in El Salvador}}
Mining in El Salvador expanded in scope from [[artisanal mining]] to industrial mining at the San Sebastián mine in the 1970s. Chemicals from that mine polluted the San Sebastián River.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Dinur |first=Esty |date=2018-04-01 |title=How El Salvador Won on Mining |url=https://progressive.org/api/content/355031ae-36b6-11e8-b166-121bebc5777e/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701154719/https://progressive.org/magazine/how-el-salvador-won-on-mining/ |archive-date=2023-07-01 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[The Progressive]] |language=en-us}}</ref>

Mining ceased during the [[Salvadoran Civil War]]. After the war, the country's right-wing government proposed 33 mining zones, issuing exploration licences to American, Australian, and Canadian companies. The plan was met with opposition of many local community and community leaders, who successfully blocked exploration in [[Chalatenango, El Salvador|Chalatenango]] in 2005.<ref name=":4" />

[[Pacific Rim Mining Corporation]] obtained a permit to explore the [[El Dorado gold mine (El Salvador)|El Dorado gold mine]] in 2002,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gutiérrez |first=Raúl |date=2009-05-18 |title=EL SALVADOR: Gold Mining 'Is a Huge Rip-Off' - Environmentalists |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45035 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518165007/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45035 |archive-date=18 May 2009 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Inter Press Service]]}}</ref> but were denied a license to mine in 2008, following local opposition.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Janet MacGillivray |date=2010-05-29 |title=Will the World Bank undermine the people of El Salvador in mining dispute? |url=https://grist.org/article/2010-05-28-will-the-world-bank-undermine-the-people-of-el-salvador-in-pacif/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216040756/https://grist.org/article/2010-05-28-will-the-world-bank-undermine-the-people-of-el-salvador-in-pacif/ |archive-date=2022-12-16 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Grist |language=en-us}}</ref>

Mining for metal was banned in 2017,<ref name=":62">{{Cite web |last=Radwin |first=Maxwell |date=2023-02-07 |title=Is El Salvador preparing to reverse its landmark mining ban? |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/is-el-salvador-preparing-to-reverse-its-landmark-mining-ban/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401003415/https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/is-el-salvador-preparing-to-reverse-its-landmark-mining-ban/ |archive-date=2023-04-01 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Mongabay]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Schalk |first=Owen |date=2 May 2023 |title=El Salvador's Historic Metal Mining Ban Is in Danger |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/02/el-salvador-mining-ban-threat-water-pollution-nayib-bukele |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331213344/https://jacobin.com/2023/02/el-salvador-mining-ban-threat-water-pollution-nayib-bukele/ |archive-date=2023-03-31 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US}}</ref> although the creation of a mining regulator in 2021<ref name=":62"/> and the arrest of anti-mining activists in 2023 prompted public speculation that the government is considering resuming mining.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lakhani |first=Nina |date=2023-01-14 |title=Salvadoran environmental defenders detained for decades-old crimes |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/el-salvador-environmental-defenders-arrested-mining-ban |url-status=live |access-date=2023-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525074824/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/el-salvador-environmental-defenders-arrested-mining-ban |archive-date=2023-05-25 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>