It took me about a minute of Googling to learn that they did do a gradual approach. They stopped issuing permits a decade ago, which led to a mining company try

It took me about a minute of Googling to learn that they did do a gradual approach. They stopped issuing permits a decade ago, which led to a mining company trying (unsuccessfully) to sue them: https://www.iisd.org/itn/2009/08/31/el-salvador-government-considers-ban-on-mining-as-permit-freeze-leads-to-cafta-arbitration/ https://www.iisd.org/itn/2009/08/31/el-salvador-government-c...