Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy scrapped 15 Special Mining Districts for Productive Diversification on October 22, dismantling a land-use regime introduced under former president Gustavo Petro and reopening just over 5.3 million hectares — about 5% of national territory — to exploration. Under Resolution 40579, published two days later, the national mining authority has 30 days to strike the district boundaries from the mining cadastre.

The districts covered parts of 11 departments — Antioquia, Boyacá, Cauca, Cesar, Chocó, Córdoba, Huila, La Guajira, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Valle del Cauca — and stretched along the Pacific coast. Fourteen were designated in 2026, in the closing months of the Petro administration.

In parallel, the Ministry of Agriculture revoked Food Production Protection Area (APPA) designations in four areas: Sabana Centro in Cundinamarca, southern La Guajira, 17 municipalities in Córdoba and 19 in southwestern Antioquia (102,801 hectares). APPA status had shielded nearly 998,000 hectares across 59 municipalities from industrial projects; Agriculture Minister Indalecio Dangond said the government intends to scrap all that remain.

The mines ministry cited four grounds: no measurable results more than two years after the first district was designated, no alternative livelihoods for mining-dependent communities, legal uncertainty because the rules had no expiry dates or expansion limits, and no consultation with governors and mayors. It said the boundaries clashed with municipal land-use plans and created overlapping jurisdictions. Mines Minister María Nohemí Arboleda said the change backed the sector rather than abandoning diversification: "Diversifying means adding, not subtracting." The previous policy, she said, had sought to replace an industry supporting thousands of families without offering an alternative; the government's recovery plans would rely on mining, which could also supply minerals needed for the energy transition.

The Colombian Mining Association (ACM) estimates the industry could attract up to US4 billion in investment through 2030 across copper, gold, coal and nickel. In a separate estimate, ACM president Juan Camilo Nariño said a more supportive investment climate could draw about US350 million a year in exploration spending and support industry growth of up to 10% a year. "Colombian mining is seeking to begin a new phase and once again become a driver of growth for the country and its regions," he told the National Mining Congress in September.

Scrapping the districts does not by itself authorize mining: projects still need environmental permits, consultation with affected communities and compliance with the rest of the mining code, and existing titles, court rulings and prior consultation agreements remain in force.

Copper is the largest opportunity. Atico Mining's El Roble, the country's only significant operating copper mine, produced about 4,200 tonnes in 2025, against national output of roughly 5.5 million tonnes in Chile and 2.7 million in Peru. Projects back in focus include AngloGold Ashanti's Quebradona, Cordoba Minerals' Alacrán, Libero Copper's Mocoa and Royal Road Minerals' Guintar-Aleman-Margaritas.

Juan Ignacio Guzman of consultancy GEM urged patience: large copper mines take 15 to 20 years from discovery to steady-state production, and Colombia needs at least one, preferably two, built rather than merely mapped. "Colombia could become a meaningful copper producer, but it will not happen on potential alone," he told MINING.COM.

The reversals are part of a broader policy reset: in August the environment ministry withdrew a reserve designation over the Santurbán páramo, and in late October lifted a resolution granting protected status to parts of the Amazon. Irene Vélez, mines minister under Petro, has warned the moves could encourage rare-earth land grabs, while illegal gold mining linked to armed groups and drug trafficking remains an economic and security burden for legitimate operators. Companies and investors now have the simpler rulebook they asked for. Whether the next two years bring actual construction rather than more mapping depends on predictable permitting and on the government keeping the environmental and community safeguards it says are non-negotiable.