Colombia, whose growing economic stability has drawn new enthusiasm to its mineral wealth, sees mining investment rising in 2010, Mines and Energy Minister Hernan Martinez Torres said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the massive Prospectors and Developers' Association mining convention in Toronto, Martinez said Colombia is pushing hard to attract investment to mineral riches that range from gold and platinum to oil and coal.

"Mining (investment) will be about $3 billion, a little bit more than that," Martinez told journalists. It is an increase over last year."The PDAC convention runs March 7 through 10 and attracts key players in the global mining industry. This year, as global metal demand picks up with economies emerging from the downturn, some 50 governments are in attendance as well as producers from about 100 countries.

Colombia is experiencing a boom in mining investment, particularly in gold, after the government of President Alvaro Uribe battered guerrillas and paramilitary groups to their weakest point in years.

"We have more than 140 international companies working in Colombia right now and I don't have a single report of problems with the FARC (revolutionary group)," Martinez said.

"To be realistic we are not out of the woods yet. We believe that we still have certain areas that have been very well identified -- less than 3 percent of our territory -- where the (mining) activities are not yet recommended."Colombia holds presidential elections in May and allies of President Uribe are seeking reform to allow him to run for a third term.

Should Uribe step aside, questions would arise about how the new president would deal with FARC rebels, and whether fighting would flare up to challenge a new government.

For Martinez, the biggest hurdle for Colombia's mining sector is the need for infrastructure investment, particularly in rail and roads.