“We would get guns and go to war,” the grizzled 67-year-old miner said during his break at the Queen of Gold mine near Vetas, a town located on the steep slopes of Santander Department. “How else could we feed our children?”

Gamboa is not alone. Vetas will soon hold Colombia’s first-ever, and so far only, local vote aimed at enshrining the right to mine, in sharp contrast to a wave of environmentally-focused anti-mining referendums over the past year that frightened investors and forced a major gold project to close.

The pro-mining referendum in Vetas may prompt more elsewhere. But pro-mining votes seem set to benefit local companies and mining in streams and on mountainsides, not multinationals including Continental Gold, EcoOro, Red Eagle, and AngloGold Ashanti, which pulled out of a US$360 million (RM1.39 billion) investment in Cajamarca, Peru, after an anti-mining vote last year.

Miners have called for clarity on whether the referendums, be they pro- or anti-mining, are binding. But the government has failed to legislate the issue, which is dampening foreign investment at a time when Colombia is grappling with low growth.

“Just give us clear rules,” said Juan Camilo Nariño of AngloGold.

In all six votes held so far, locals voted against mining. Some 54 more votes are planned.

Though locals fear the fate of Cajamarca, whose economy nose-dived when AngloGold left, few municipalities have good relationships with multinationals and do not wish to back them in a vote. According to a recent survey, Colombians consider international miners arrogant and dishonest.

AngloGold did not campaign against the Cajamarca vote, keen to avoid accusations of meddling in local democracy.

The Mining Ministry promised a law to regulate use of the referendums, but it has yet to materialize. May presidential elections have dimmed hopes for a prompt solution.

Mining minister Germán Arce has said communities are free to hold the votes, but the choice to allow mining rests with the government.

“Laws are changed by Congress,” Arce said at a recent industry event. “This isn’t a problem the state resolves alone or companies resolve alone.”

The mining ministry did not respond to a request for further comment.

Locals also hope the pro-mining referendum will stymie new court rulings and environmental regulations that could close off more land, especially in places like Vetas and neighbouring California, which have delicate, high-altitude wetlands.

This has already happened at Canadian miner EcoOro’s Angostura project in California, which was cut in half by a 2014 constitutional court ruling that expanded wetland protections. EcoOro, which has invested more than US$250 million (RM968 million) in Colombia, including Angostura, is suing for US$764 million (RM2.959 billion) in damages and declined to comment.

Colombia’s government has until November to release the final wetland delimitation and residents fear a majority of the municipality will be included. A new government takes office in August and could influence the decision.

“We want the national government, the courts, public opinion to see that here in Vetas we want mining and we want to decide for ourselves,” said municipal official Angelica García. “If they restrict mining the municipality will disappear.”

Mining accounts for some 90% of the local economy, García said. The Queen of Gold, one of four local miners in the municipality, employs 60 people and is owned by a group of 12 families.

“We support the (pro-mining) vote but we’re not interested in supporting any multinational,” said partner Johanna Rangel, whose father helped start the mine.

In the town of California, some still make their living panning for gold. Officials said the community has a fraught relationship with Minesa, the latest multinational to start a project there, pledging to directly employ 1,000 people.

California’s mayor Hugo Lizcano said the company caused “friction” with the community because it did not hire the number of locals it had promised.

Minesa, which is applying for the project’s environmental license, plans to invest around US$1 billion (RM3.9 billion) over the next five years, eventually producing 12,800 kilogrammes of gold per year.

“Since we arrived in the area we’ve been interested in having a direct and clear dialogue with the communities,” the company said in an email, adding it hoped a “large majority” of jobs would be filled by locals.

Red Eagle and Continental Gold did not respond to requests for comment.