Castilla del Oro Foundation starts the remodeling of San Francisco de La Montaña church before planned

Complying with the mission for which Castilla del Oro Foundation was created by engineer Richard Fifer Carles, the Castilla del Oro Foundation, starts before planned with the remodeling of San Francisco de La Montaña church and in that sense,  is currently making the drawings to renovate the tower which estimated cost goes up to 200 thousand dollars.

Originally, the church had a four-scale tower, but in the thirties an earthquake that shook the area affected it seriously,  reason why it had to be restored; however the works remained unfinished, since only one level was repaired.

The church is located in the community of San Francisco de La Montaña, 17 kilometers from the city of Santiago of Veraguas, and its altar shows painted pieces some of them exquisitely, or gold-plated,  in what constitutes what is considered one of the most ancient groups of altars of baroque style of the continent.

Millennium Ecosystems

Madrid, September 2011

The Foundation Castilla del Oro, led by Richard Fifer- Carles and chairman Cristobal Colon in Spain will develop a social and environmental labor very important in the zone of Cerro del Andevalo – Huelva-. Under this line is born the concerns about environmental subjects, in this case will address the protection of nature.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

In the late nineties, the people and entities who investigated and worked for the protection of nature, were aware that although they had made great advances in scientific knowledge about the structure, functioning, dynamics and conservation status of many types of ecosystems and the biodiversity that they hold, the results obtained were have little impact and weight in political debates and in relation to the decision making with the cause that the destruction or degradation would generate,

Strong global evaluation, in scientific terms, as the Global Evaluation of the biodiversity, developed in the framework of the Biological Diversity Convention (Heywood & Watson 1995), resulting in failure in the political impact of the proposals, due to the focus on the scientific debate and not taking into account other users of the result.

The lesson learned by the scientific community and the ONG conservationists, was structured around the strategic thinking that if they wanted to have an impact n politicians and decision makers on the need to change their current policies that confront their natural systems and eroding biodiversity, they could not just keep talking about how the ecosystems worked or the singularities of determining charismatic species. It was necessary to demonstrate the close links between natural systems and human welfare. In other words, they had to introduce as en essential focus to the debate social aspects of the ecosystem and the biodiversity through the services that are generating to the society.

Mining Code amendments to fill a legal void

The amendments that will be presented by the government to the National Assembly to modify the Mineral Resources Code will fill a legal void that remained, after the government repealed law 8, which modified the norm in force since 1963 regarding everything concerning the control of legal mining.

The changes to the Mining Code were approved last February with the support of companies like Petaquilla Gold S.A., who under the leadership of engineer Richard Fifer Carles, supported the increase in royalty payments and the application of stricter environmental laws, in order to slow down the impact caused by the mining activity.

The new law also includes canons, fines and fees which will have to be paid by the mining companies; while fine increases are considered an important point to fight illegal mining.

Overtures between Castilla del Oro Foundation and APEDE

The visit of the international president of the Castilla del Oro Foundation, the Duke of Veraguas, Cristobal Colon de Carvajal to Panama, in which he visited five provinces, ended with a presentation to the members of the Tourism Commission of the Panamanian Business Executives Association (APEDE).

Amid a cordial meeting, Colon de Carvajal explained to the directors of this prestigious business association the development of the projects that are boosted by this organization in the central region of the country, to encourage the touristic activity in rural communities.

The main headquarters of APEDE was the correct scenario for the members of the environmental commission so they can present a proposal to build a replica of a Spanish galleon, to celebrate the 500 years of the discovery of the South Sea, Interesting projects, like all the rest that are actually executed by the Castilla del Oro Foundation in several provinces of the country.

Community leaders listen to lecture on how Petaquilla Gold S.A operates

Twenty community leaders that belong to the district of Donoso in the province of Colon, where the Petaquilla Gold S.A project is located, listened to an informative talk on how this gold project operates and the safety measures that are performed in the production processes.

The seminar was given by international professionals linked to topics related to the chemical, environmental, hidrology processes, who in a detailed manner informed the visitors of all the aspects related to the production of the precious metal and the manner in which they operate with the purpose of developing a safe activity, that avoids any type of inconvenient for the workers just as the people that reside in the communities near the project.

The Petaquilla Gold S.A. company, that is directed by businessman Richard Fifer- Carles to develop their production processes, complies with the local safety standards just as the international ones and that were previously approved by the authorities.

Petaquilla Gold S. A. guarantees permanent medical presence

The facilities where Petaquilla Gold, S. A. mining project’s clinic operates has complex and varied medical equipment, including medical professionals who daily fulfill their mission of providing care to coworkers of the Molejon gold deposit.

This clinic was enabled thanks to the vision of engineer Richard Fifer, and fulfills the mission of providing comprehensive service to the people who work on the project daily, according to Dr. Carlos Gomez, one of the doctors in charge of this center.

The clinic is staffed by paramedics, supplies and equipment, in addition to the permanent presence of an ambulance for emergency medical care which have dealt with cases of patients with snake bites, fractures, childbirth and accidents.

PDI contributes in mineral extraction labors

The executive vice-president of Panama Infrastructure Development (PDI, for its acronym in Spanish), Rafael Reyes, expressed that this is a company that basically constructs civil works that contribute to the extraction process performed by  Petaquilla Gold, S. A. in the Molejon mining project.

“PDI does not do mineral extraction nor processing, however it does related activities, like soil movement, camp maintenance, feeding personnel and, safety and environment services”, emphasized Reyes.

PDI is a subsidiary company of Petaquilla –Gold, S. A, that, under the leadership of engineer Richard Fifer – Carles, also offers environment services, besides the construction of housing for the employees and the civil infrastructure that the Molejon mining project requires for its normal operation, said Reyes.

Contributions from mining to the Gross Domestic Product (PIB) of Panama will increase

Currently, mining contributes 1% to the Gross Domestic Product (PIB) of Panama, with a value of 158 million dollars.  There is an important investment increase towards the exploration and development activities for gold and copper projects.  Petaquilla Minerals started their commercial production in January 2010

The Petaquilla Gold S.A. mining project, led by Panamanian entrepreneur Richard Fifer Carles, is currently operational; the project is located in the Donoso district, Colon province, about 100 kilometers west to the Panama Canal on the Caribbean Coast.  The open sky plant site has been set up with a new road built for a 70-ton specification.

It is estimated that the first production year for this mining project will yield 2200 tons per day, with plans to increase the production to 5000 tons with the addition of a mill that will complement three other existing ones and a coal processing plant.

The Molejon Mining Project chapel

The chapel of the Molejon Mining Project, of the mining company Petaquilla Gold S.A, is located in the Coclesito community as an example of the religious vocation of the staff that works in the mining project, reported the El Minero newsletter.

The enabling of the chapel was done by Petaquilla Gold S.A., under the social vision of Eng. Richard Fifer Carles, and miners, operators, drivers, cooks, explosive experts, among other collaborators of the mining company, converge in it.

From this chapel, deacon Rodrigo Carrion organizes church activities and attends requests to celebrate with the locals of the Donoso Township and the Petaquilla Gold S.A. collaborators and offer the spiritual support needed by humans.