Cerrejón

Cerrejón

Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over 690 square kilometres (270 sq mi) the mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Latin America and the tenth biggest in the world. Cerrejón is divided into three sections, North Zone, Central Zone and South Zone. Total proven reserves are estimated at 503 megatonnes. In 2016, the mine produced 32,683,315 tonnes (32,167,132 long tons; 36,027,188 short tons). In June 2020, lawyers for the local Wayuu community lodged a request to the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights and the environment for work to be immediately halted over environmental and human rights concerns. In September 2020, several UN independent human rights experts called for the mining operations to be halted, citing the serious damage to the environment and the negative effects on the health and other rights of the indigenous peoples who live in the area. These experts include the Special Rapporteur for human rights and the environment, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, and the Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations.

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