Popular consultations in Colombia are a tool that guarantees collective rights or interests, used by communities to protect cultural rights and the environment. The subsoil is property of the State, which, together with mining exploitation, occupies a harmony and coordinated execution with the communities. The need for the country's development and the right to enjoy a healthy environment has created a problem. The research work makes a conceptualization of the historical regulations on mines in Colombia and the evolutionary development of the popular consultation. Here we can see to what extent the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources can be limited, making use of such a constitutional tool, which has been sought not to be radical and negative regarding the exploitation of natural resources. Through the method of analysis that the high courts do, the solution is found in the present work with respect to the subject matter.