No se conocen los detalles del origen de la raza, ya que hay información contradictoria. Se sabe que la realeza de Inglaterra los utilizaba como perros de caza, sin embargo no se encontró sangre de Clumber en Inglaterra.

Se cree que fueron criados originalmente en Francia y que son una cruza de Spaniel Alpino y Basset Hound.

Como perro de cacería no es tan rápido como los otros Spaniel, pero sí tiene mucha resistencia. Es muy bueno levantando las presas y cobrándolas. Es muy silencioso y por esa razón se puede acercar mucho a la presa sin alertarla de su presencia.

Este hermoso animal se puede tener como mascota, pero es importante que los que estén pensando añadirlo a su familia tengan en cuenta que necesitará de mucho ejercicio. Es ideal para gente activa que le guste tomar largas caminatas. También es necesario que vivan en una casa con patio. Este perro no podrá liberar toda su energía en un apartamento.

Cristóbal Colón: “El apoyo a la educación es un camino que seguimos con responsabilidad y dedicación”

La Fundación La Castilla del Oro, tiene en su horizonte el desarrollo sostenible de las regiones centrales panameñas.  El presidente en España, Cristóbal Colón es contundente cuando comenta que, el desarrollo proviene en gran porcentaje de la educación, y destacó que es misión prioritaria el apoyo a la educación como herramienta fundamental para lograr los objetivos.

En la visita a Panamá de la delegación española,  Cristóbal Colón visitó en Panamá el Centro Básico General, Cristóbal Colón.  En compañía del gobernador de Colón Pedro Ríos, develó un busto erigido en honor a su antepasado del mismo nombre, escultura patrocinada por la Fundación Castilla del Oro.

Cristóbal Colón, presidente de la Fundación La Castila del Oro visitó Belén (Panamá).

La visita a la montañosa región de Coclesito, también fue aprovechado por el Duque Colón de Carvajal intercambiar impresiones con los lugareños. Es la frontera que divide a las provincias de Colón y Veraguas, sitio visitado por su antepasado hace cinco siglos.

“Es admirable como las gentes tienen su vida en este precioso lugar”, señalaba.

La Fundación pretende dotar de mecanismos a la región para generar desarrollo sostenible.

gazebo in the Volteadero sector, built by Petaquilla Gold, S.A. as part of its corporate social responsibility program

While emphasizing that the Panamanian Association of Geologists is in favor of responsible mining, this association’s president Omar Sugasti said that it is necessary to speak the truth to the Panamanian population, to stop the dizzying exaggerated information that confuses the unsuspecting population.

“For a long time geologists have stayed quiet when we hear presentations from some individuals on a topic that they obviously do not know or know superficially. It’s time to tell the Panamanians the truth. It is not fair to present exaggerated ‘assumptions’ that greatly ‘dizzy’ and confuse the unwary, using a tried and learned dialectic that has no scientific basis,” he said.

He stressed that geologists have education, training, knowledge and expertise to properly review the mining issue. “Our arguments are based on evidence and not on speculative weights. The Panamanian Association of Geologists is in favor of responsible mining,” he sustained.

Sugasti said that the fact that most people do not master this subject’s technical aspects has enabled people to exaggerate things and convey a distorted image of reality to the population.

One example is the claim that the Petaquilla project will use 20 million gallons of water per day to operate the mine and that it is a liquid necessary to a population of 28,000 people. “Gentlemen, if we use this analogy, we should stop the operations of the Canal, because two transiting ships consume water that could supply Panama City,” he said.

They have also argued that it was more profitable to sell coffee because the price was double that of copper; that is misinforming the public. Imagine the number of hectares of coffee that would have to be planted with exaggerated yields of 800 kg per acre in cherry, in order to get just about the same economic returns offered by the mine, questioned Sugasti.

“But what’s worse, and those who oppose mining know it, the price in any economic activity is governed by free supply and demand. Attractive coffee prices are due to the current short supply. But if we increase supply, prices will drop and that business will be less attractive,” he stated.

The president of the Association of Geologists also disputed the way mining opponents handle figures when they state that 20 million cubic meters of material will be extracted over the life of the Petaquilla mining project and [question] the place where waste materials from the tailings would be deposited.

The emphasis they put on the numbers suggests to the population a monstrosity of matter that would almost cover the whole country. To have a measurable scale factor, I compare this with the existing Canal Expansion Project, which currently produces a total excavation of 133 million cubic meters of material, of which 50 million are above water level. More than twice as much as Petaquilla would produce, he added.

He added that you just have to go through the Centennial Bridge to see the impact of excavations from the canal expansion project, where you can see the terraces of exposed material with a displacement similar to what will be the tailings at the end of Petaquilla operations within 20 years.

“We go by every day and no one is alarmed. Tell people the truth. They speak of thousands of hectares, mining concessions only have 109, and they do not tell you that exploration hectares are not the same as that of exploitation,” he said.

Sugasti explained that for mineral exploitation to be profitable it must be concentrated and that is the area to be affected by mining works, not the entire concession as the public has been led to believe.

“No mining company will spend money in areas that are not useful. Therefore, they will focus on exploiting only the mineralized areas,” he said.

In Panama, to develop its project Petaquilla Gold, S.A., has implemented leading edge technology applied in first order mining projects and it fully complies with environmental standards and both Panamanian and international requirements.

Andevalo Huelva: captivating landscape between the mountains and the sea

Madrid, August 2011

Andevalo, also known as Camp Andevalo is an historical region located in the central province of Huelva in Andalucia. Halfway between the coast and the Huelva Sierra, between Portugal and the Huelva Cuenca Minera opens a vast territory consisting on meadows and reforested territories.

Between plains and small hills of scrub, Andevalo Camp offers visual appeal and a landscape that captures the uniqueness of native and visitors.

The Andevalo is a transitional space between the coastal plain of the Huelva province, where the city of Huelva and adjacent zones of Donana National Park are located, and its limit with the province of Cadiz and the abrupt reliefs of the mountainous area to the north.

From any of the multiple Andevalo’s hills, an almost unlimited horizon opens before the visitor to the south, where on clear days you could almost guess the end of the earth and the immensity of the blue waves in the background. To the north, the limits and much clearer on the horizon, drawn by the foothills of the mountains, the area known as Serra Pelada, gives access to the western end of Sierra Morena and the Natural Park of Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Arroche.

Within the historical región of Andevalo, two subunits can be distinguished: Cuenca Minera, consisting of six municipalities and West Andevalo, consisting on other fourteen municipalities.

Andévaloda land and shelter between twenty municipalities: El Almendro, Alonso, Berrocal, Cabezas Rubias, Calañas, El Campillo, El Cerro de Andevalo, El Granado, Minas de Riotinto, Nerva, Paymogo, Puebla de Guzmán, San Bartolome de la Torre, Sanlucar del Guadiana, San Silvestre de Guzmán, Santa Bárbara de Casa, Valverde del Camino, Villanueva de las Cruces, Villanueva de los Castillejos and Zalamea la Real.

Minister of Trade Roberto Henriquez before the National Assembly

The strengthening of the Inspection labor of the Directorate of Mineral Resources, increase of the resources for the State and Municipalities that will allow more surveillance in the environmental matters and support for social projects, constitute some of the main benefits of the reforms to the Mineral Resources Code, document that lies in the National Assembly, waiting to be discussed.

So it was informed by minister of Trade and Industries (MICI), Roberto Henriquez, who stated that these reforms the bases to have a strong, independent Directorate of Mineral Resources is settled, that can do the inspection, audits and can whether be binding with the environment.

He expressed that with this proposal the mining companies will pay the income tax (ISR) for the first time, from the first day that the regulation is in force.

In regard to the payment of royalties, the minister stated that the project these imports that are distributed between the State and the municipalities, will be increased in 2 percent to a 4 percent and that this one will not depend on the amount of extracted material, but of the exported product’s dollar value.

About the criticism of environmentalist groups towards the reform mining project, Henriquez regretted that “a lot of times judgments are made based on the mining of 50 years ago in which no one cared about the environment”.

On the other hand, Vice-minister of Trade sustained that what is not exploited does not enrich, nor benefit the population, above all the marginalized communities of the country.

He pointed out that the government is in favor of the environment of the communities and that things are well done, because at the end what we are looking for is that “to become a country with responsible mining”.

He expressed that the government, through the promotion of the private investment these big projects must propel the primary development of the indigenous areas; that will allow the appointment of larger budgets, such as it happens in the near-by areas to the Panama Canal, where more money is invested in function of the amount that is destined to big projects like the expansion of the canal, the subway and the bay clean up.

The Petaquilla Gold, S.A. company, pioneer of the modern mining industry in Panama, currently invests 2.3% in volunteer social programs, and a 17.1% is destined to purchasing local services. To the end 45.4% of the gross total production is invested in the country, between taxes and purchases; while 5% is destined in purchasing services abroad.

This way, Petaquilla Gold, S.A. invests 45% of its gross production in this country, benefits that far exceed the 2%, that by Law the company pays in royalties to the Panamanian state.

Petaquilla’s donation to Penonome Mayor’s Office

There are projects that set a rhythm in the communities where they settle, changing their appearance, taking progress and propelling economic activities, mainly raising life level for its residents.

Mainly if it is about town that for years have remained in the abandonment, where its residents perform subsistence and where the water, health, housing and education services are nowhere to be found.

Because of this, within its Corporate Social Responsibility policy, Petaquilla Gold, S. A,  through the Petaquilla Foundation, develops programs and projects directed to improve the quality of life in the near-by communities to the mining project.

“We are synonymous for progress, and that is happening in Cocle”, stated the Petaquilla Gold, S.A. spokesman, Carlos Salazar, who emphasized the economic impact that the company has had in areas like Penonome, where one arrives and one is told Petaquilla passed through here, and took all the food-

He added that the company spends on food on food, on fuel, on inputs, on vehicle rental and all kinds of products and assets.

“We have contractors and subcontractors, we use explosives, we have Panamanian engineers, we have automobile-drivers specialists from pickups, to gigantic trucks of 35 tons, to do operations specific of the mining engineering and of our project, and at the same time, we build social works infrastructure”, he stated.

He expressed that the company has also painted schools, and will also build the Middle School and the Coclesito Rural Hospital, just as the shelter for teachers.

Salazar pointed out that the mining project was done under the parameters of an environmental impact study category 3; and that also the established obligations in this document, the company has made decoration work from La Pintada to the mining project, cleaning the areas, reforesting, planting from improved pasture to shrubbery and native trees.

He reiterated that in handling the solid wastes and recycling, the company is based on a first world culture that is applied on the project: handling, classifying and final waste disposal and the training and environment education that not only involves workers and collaborators, contractors and subcontractors, but to the near-by populations, schools and not only from the sector.

Gonzalo Adanes: “We have to understand we can do this in Panama as well”

October 2010, Madrid

The mayor of Santiago de Veraguas has summarized in few words the thought of the visitors: “we stand to do many things”.

The Castilla del Oro Foundation has sponsored a trip for the Panamanian authorities to Spain with the objective to visualize the tools to develop Sustainable Tourism.  The Foundation with the idea of developing the Second Generation Social Responsibility, and motivated by the excellence of the rural tourism in Spain, has favored the possibility of this trip.  There will be a before and after for everyone on this trip, which promises development for Panama.

Gonzalo Adanes – Mayor of Santiago de Veraguas

What is the highlight of the trip to Spain?

The impressions have been very good and positive, now we have to work.  It is important to understand we can do this in Panama too.  Through the Castilla del Oro Foundation we stand to do many things, we appreciate this possibility that opened our eyes to the world, the world of rural and religious tourism.  We have to apply in our community what we have learned, together with the Castilla del Oro Foundation, the Government, and the City Hall.

The routes, stays, stores, people, governments, and city halls: they are all links that in the end make the difference.  We have to look for joint ventures that will allow us to get to where others have with effort.

Objective: to promote the economical development of the Pyrite Belt

Madrid, August 29, 2011

The administration council of the Iberia Resources Corporation agreed this week to the establishment of the Hispania Romana Foundation.

The agreement was adopted by the proposal of the promoter of the project, and representing member of the Iberian Resources Corporation partner.

The patronage will be presided by Mr. Pascual Montanes Duato (President of the Castilla del Oro Foundation of Panama) and is intended within it, the incorporation of relevant personalities of the economical and cultural areas.

The purpose of the Foundation is to promote the economical development, technological innovation, and cultural development of the Pyrite Belt.  The Foundation will be an instrument (joined by others such as the Castilla del Oro Foundation in Spain, presided by Cristobal Colon de Carbajal, and the one in Panama, presided by Pascual Montanes Duato) by which the company will contribute to the sustainable development of the area.

The financing will be provided by the company.  In this sense, the Foundation will be a channel through which the company will canalize part of the resources committed for the fulfillment of their social responsibility (third generation social responsibility).  The company has the compromise to destine to such activities an approximate of 5% of its investment and about 2% of its exploitation incomes.  However, nowadays, significantly higher amounts are dedicated to such ends.

The Foundation (in the process of being constituted) is already working in a project for local business development.  The coordination work with the local administrations and social agents is being done.  A program is being designed.  The project includes the most diverse areas like agriculture, mineral waters, tourism, environment, and others.  It is intended to start the execution around mid 2012.  The project is based on the same methodologies of the economical reactivation programs being developed in other countries as a part of the processes of industrial restructuring.  The team working on them has an experience of over six years in the management of similar projects.

Other projects are also being worked.  Particularly, a contest of entrepreneurs is being prepared. The contest will be international.  It will be broadcasted via television (with the collaboration of VTV) to all Latin America, and via adinettv, to the rest of the world.  The first prize will be the financing of the winning project.

The mining sector is characterized for generating a strong pole of development with a limited time frame, which historically ends with the closing of the mining activity and the loss of the economical activity of the area.  For this, it is precise that the mining company assumes from the beginning, the obligation to generate with the mining activity, other economical activities that contribute to the economy after the mining activity has ended.

In Panama, Petaquilla Minerals formed the Petaquilla Foundation and the Castilla del Oro Foundation of Panama, which have successfully promoted the notable development of the tourist activity of the central provinces of Panama.  In Spain, the Iberia Resources Corporation has formed the Castilla del Oro Foundation of Spain, and now the Hispania Romana Foundation, with the objective to promote other economical activities (agriculture, environment, energy and others).