Environmental groups in Costa Rica aim to stop the Bellavista mining project in Miramar de Puntarenas, 100 km northeast of San José, because they say it will ruin the area's water sources. The companies Ríos Minerales and Metales Procesados, associated with the Canadian consortium Glencairn, plan to mine gold ore for eight years using the open pit approach, even though it was banned by a presidential decree in 2002.

The project is set in an area that serves as the watershed of the Ciruelas River, which flows into the Gulf of Nicoya and has 21 tributaries.

If the Costa Rican authorities give the mining companies the green light, experts calculate that 14,000 tons of earth and rock will be extracted daily.