The vote in El Salvador follows a protracted battle with a Canadian junior, Pacific Rim Mining, over its proposed El Dorado gold and silver mine. The project was bitterly resisted by locals and environmental activists because of its impact on water supplies.
Pacific Rim had sued the government for failing to issue a mining licence after the company had submitted its environmental impact study.
The case ended up with the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which found in favour of the government last October.
That paved the way for the new anti-mining law, which was passed with cross-party support and codifies a previous de facto moratorium on mining permits.
El Salvador may be an extreme case but it is not unique in looking again at the trade-off between the economic benefit and environmental impact of mining.
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