Gang activity in Ecuador shows mining fraught with issues

January 17, 2024

Statement by Rainforest Action Group The current wave of criminal activity by organised crime gangs in Ecuador underpins predictions made by Rainforest Action Group from 2018 that investing in mining in the country is fraught and risks further destabilising the country. Paramilitary groups operating on the Ecuador-Colombia border have been growing in strength and presence … Read More

Ecuador landslide deaths show mining risks

April 3, 2023

Deadly landslide buries Ecuador town, killing 28 in region earmarked for mining by Australian mining company SolGold. On Sunday 26 March, a massive landslide caused a large chunk of a mountainside to partially bury the isolated highland town of Alausí, in Chimborazo province, Ecuador – a region destined for mining activity by Australian company SolGold. … Read More

New report on SolGold backer Jiangxi

February 23, 2023

Rainforest Action Group launches its new report today on Jiangxi Copper, the Chinese mining company which invested $36 million US into SolGold in December Only weeks after Canada ordered three Chinese companies to give up their investments in Canadian minerals in November 2022, citing national security, SolGold announced Jiangxi would become a new investors to … Read More

Ecuador Army attack peaceful civilians resisting Rinehart mining on their land

June 24, 2022

Gina Rinehart’s Hanrine mining concessions in north-east Ecuador are again hotbeds of unrest, with Ecuador’s Army using violence and tear gas to clear streets of citizens to allow Hanrine’s employees to pass during national strike.  On June 18, the army threw around 30 tear gas grenades, triple action gas grenades and long distance projectiles at … Read More

Win for Los Cedros Reserve could impact mining concessions across Ecuador

December 6, 2021

Los Cedros Reserve to be protected from mining after comprehensive Ecuador Constitutional Court ruling on Rights of Nature and the environment In a significant ruling on December 1, the Ecuador Constitutional Court revoked the water and environmental rights of Cornerstone Capital Resources and the Ecuador state mining company (ENAMI) for the Rio Magdalena concessions that … Read More

Ecuador legal system manipulated in Rinehart company case

October 27, 2021

The National Council of the Judiciary in Ecuador confirmed the presence of irregularities and manipulation of the judicial computer system in the Protective Action that allowed Gina Rinehart subsidiary Hanrine to forcibly enter the town of Buenos Aires on August 3. The investigation was carried out by the National Directorate of Management Transparency after Assemblyman … Read More

Intag says no to mining

September 24, 2021

On September 12, members of Intag’s local government and organisations sent a letter to the CEOS of BHP, Cornerstone Capital Resources, Codelco and Sunstone Metals, stating that unconsulted mining in their territories was threatening water sources, and demanding they stop explorations in the area. The email below was sent to the CEOs of BHP Billiton … Read More

Human rights violations at Gina Rinehart’s Ecuador mining concession

August 4, 2021

Approximately 500 armed national police stormed Buenos Aires in the early hours of the 3rd August, using tear gas and military trucks to forcibly clear a path through the town for the mining company Hanrine in what locals say is a significant human rights violation. This was despite a court ruling in June that gave … Read More

Judge rules Rinehart’s Ecuador subsidiary must not block public road

June 8, 2021

Hundreds of workers from Rinehart’s subsidiary Hanrine have blocked the only road to the town of Buenos Aires in north-west Ecuador for more than 40 days, hoping to force locals to allow them passage through the town to the concession Imba 1. The judge of the Urcuquí Multicompetent Unit, Manuel Sucuzhañay, today accepted the Precautionary … Read More