Infrastructure

Update: Medellin-Bogota Highway Reopens 24 Hours/Day at San Luis Landslide Site

Medellin Herald December 16, 2019

Colombia’s national highway agency (Invias) announced late December 14 that sufficient progress on clearing a November 13 landslide at kilometer 73 (San Luis) of the Medellin-Bogota Highway has now enabled 24 hours/day traffic flows in both directions. To date, more than 102,000 cubic meters of

Infrastructure

Update: Medellin-Bolombolo Sinifaná Section of ‘Pacifico 1’ Reopens on Restricted-Hours Schedules

Medellin Herald December 13, 2019

Colombia President Ivan Duque on December 20 celebrated a restricted-hours reopening of a 600-meters-long stretch of the “Pacifico 1” highway between Medellin and Bolombolo, which had been blocked for six months by a massive landslide near Amaga. Until all repairs and mountainside reconstructions are finally completed in the area, the road will be opened only […]

Congresses & Conferences

FISE Electricity Fair: 15,000 Visitors, US$200 Million Business Deals, 320 Exhibitors, New Focus on Wind & Solar Power, Electric Vehicles

Medellin Herald December 7, 2019

Medellin – the epicenter of Colombia’s mainly “green” electric power industry – this month hosted the 6th biannual FISE Electric Power Fair with more than 15,000 visitors, 320 exhibitors, US$200 million in new business deals — and a growing focus on wind/solar power as well as electric vehicles (EVs). At the Plaza Mayor convention center […]

Companies

EPM Wins 1st US$150 Million Insurance Payment for Hidroituango Damages

Medellin Herald December 4, 2019

Medellin-based electric power giant EPM announced December 4 that insurer Mapfre has issued its first payment – totaling US$150 million – for damages to the US$5 billion, 2.4-gigawatt “Hidroituango” hydroelectric project in Antioquia. The payment “corresponds to the figure recommended by the [insurance] adjuster according to the expenses and investments made by EPM in the

Companies

China’s Zijin Mining Buys 100% of Continental Gold’s Antioquia Mining Operation

Medellin Herald December 2, 2019

Toronto-based Continental Gold – developer of the giant Buriticá, Antioquia gold mine due for start-up in 2020 – announced December 2 that China-based Zijin Mining Group inked a C$1.4 billion/US$1 billion deal to buy 100% of Continental’s stock. “The offer price represents a premium of 29% over Continental’s 20-day volume-weighted average price at November 29, […]

Companies

Coltejer Reveals US$65 Million Debt Restructuring

Medellin Herald December 2, 2019

Medellin-based textile giant Coltejer revealed in a November 30 filing with Colombia’s Superfinanciera corporate oversight agency that it inked a US$65 million debt restructuring deal with Grupo MCM Colombia. The new debt deal carries a 10% annual interest rate and runs through December 31, 2021, according to the filing. Coltejer and fellow Colombian textile makers […]

General News

USAID, Companies, Antioquia Governments Replant 2 Million Trees, 12,000 Beehives to Recover Lands Wrecked by Illegal Mining

Medellin Herald November 29, 2019

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Colombia on November 28 issued an update on a joint USAID-Antioquia governmental program that is restoring 1,781 hectares of lands wrecked by criminal and illegal mining. To date, the US$4 million project has planted 2 million trees on deforested lands and established 12,000 beehives for honey […]

Companies

Update: AngloGold Ashanti Reveals More Details on Proposed ‘Biodynamic’ Mining Scheme at Jerico, Antioquia

Medellin Herald November 29, 2019

South Africa-based global mining giant AngloGold Ashanti on November 28 unveiled more details of its proposed “Quebradona” copper-gold mining project at Jerico, Antioquia — including a novel “Biodynamic” nature park that would restore and improve the entire mining area, as part of its just-filed environmental impact assessment (EIA). AngloGold

Culture

Rio Medellin Once Again Shines for Annual Xmas Lights Spectacular

Medellin Herald November 29, 2019

Medellin utilities giant EPM on November 29 relights 27 million LED bulbs for an annual Christmas-season spectacle in several city parks and neighborhoods, as well as light-show designs alongside Rio Medellin — absent in recent years due to “Parques del Rio” construction. The spectacle can be viewed daily from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. midnight, […]

Infrastructure

May 2019 Landslide on Medellin-Bolombolo Highway Seen Cleared by March 2020: ANI

Medellin Herald November 27, 2019

Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced November 26 that a May 28, 2019 landslide blocking the Medellin-Bolombolo highway near Amaga should be cleared by around March 2020. The landslide wiped-out an under-construction section of the “Pacifico 1” four-lane divided highway as well as a stretch of the existing highway