El Salvador's legislature overturned a seven-year-old ban on metals mining on Monday, a move that President Nayib Bukele had pushed for to boost economic growth, but that environmental groups had opposed.

El Salvador's Congress has approved a law that would lift the country’s seven-year-old ban on mining for metals.

El Salvador's Congress on Monday approved a bill promoted by President Nayib Bukele to roll back a ban on the mining of gold and other metals, dismaying environmentalists.

El Salvador's legislature overturned a national ban on metals mining on Monday, backing a key item on President Nayib Bukele's agenda for boosting economic growth amid criticism from environmental groups.

El Salvador’s Parliament voted to overturn a ban on metals mining, a win for controversial-but-popular President Nayib Bukele but a defeat for environmental groups. The country banned mining in 2017, a move Bukele called “absurd”: His party holds 57 out of 60 seats and overturned the ban easily.