Falcondo scrapped its Loma Miranda mine bid as its current ore runs out in five years

Falconbridge Dominicana (Falcondo), the Dominican ferronickel subsidiary of American Nickel, announced in February 2021 that it planned to mine La Manaclita, a 4.6 km2 area inside the 46 km2 Loma Miranda forest, which would have extended its ferronickel operations for 20 years. Its existing mining resources were expected to be exhausted within four to five years, making the extension existential for the operation.

The proposal ran into immediate, organized opposition. Senator Ramon Rogelio Genao of the PRSC declared Loma Miranda 'should not be touched,' a call backed by environmental groups and religious leaders. Mining in Loma Miranda had been contested since 2014, when the senate approved converting the forest into a national park — a move later vetoed by then-president Danilo Medina — and fresh national-park proposals had already passed a first reading in the senate.

On February 25, 2021, environment secretary Orlando Jorge Mera confirmed that Falcondo had formally withdrawn the permit application following the public outcry, communicating the decision directly to the ministry.

The site was pre-poisoned: Loma Miranda had been a national environmental cause since 2014, with the senate repeatedly trying to turn the forest into a national park.

The company applied to mine inside the forest anyway, betting it could outlast a decade of opposition rather than reading the politics.

Environmental groups and religious leaders mobilized against the plan, and a sitting senator publicly declared the mountain 'should not be touched.'

Its own timeline made retreat expensive either way: existing ore was expected to run out in four to five years without the extension.

A permit is a political ask: a decade of national-park bills and church-backed opposition was a clear signal, and applying anyway bought a fast public retreat.

Falcondo's withdrawal was confirmed by the environment ministry on February 25, 2021. Fresh proposals to turn Loma Miranda into a national park passed a first reading in the senate, moving the forest closer to permanent protection. With its current resources expected to be exhausted within four to five years, the company left the mineral it came for locked under a forest that the country's legislature, church and environmental movement all wanted preserved.