In the mid-2000s, Canada-based mining giant Pacific Rim began exploring for gold in El Salvador.The company was granted exploratory permits and was on track to receive extraction permits when the government put an official halt to mining.El Salvador wanted to wait until it could determine whether it was possible to mine without causing irreparable environmental damage following public concern over the country's compromised water supply as 90 percent of the country's surface water is contaminated and there is fear that Lempa River, which is an essential source of water for El Salvador's 6 million people, would also be contaminated.
In what seems to be a tried and true practice for corporations, Canadian Pacific Rim opened an office in the United States so that it could file the lawsuit under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which Canada is not a member of. A decision is expected in 2015.In 2013, Australian corporation OceanaGold, which mines gold on the New Zealand West Coast, bought Pacific Rim.
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