Author: MRAG

Australian mining companies plunder Ecuador’s gold and copper

First published in Green Left by Anthony Amis

In 2008, Ecuador was the first country in the world to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution. But, as Anthony Amis reports, international mining companies have been given the green light to exploit the country’s copper and gold reserves.

Illegal mining in Buenos Aires, part of the Hanrine mining concession in Ecuador. Image credit: Ecuvisa

The Ecuadorian government is desperate for foreign capital injections to ease its weakening economy, caused in part by falling oil prices.

The small South American country has become a magnet over the past four years for mainly Australian and Canadian mining companies wanting to cash in on the desperation and mine its untapped mineral resources.

Mining companies have arrived in Ecuador, largely after its copper and gold reserves. “Copper is the new iron ore”, according to one Australian mining executive. Companies are already designing their marketing strategies around the need to mine copper to supply the world’s renewable energy sector.

For most of Ecuador’s history there has been small-scale gold mining. The country has not been exposed to the large-scale mines that have been pushed forward in neighbouring countries, such as Chile, since the 1970s, or Peru in the 1990s. This situation is rapidly changing.

In 2009, the government of Rafael Correa (who was president from 2007-17) enacted Ecuador’s Mining Law and in 2010 created the national mining company ENAMI. The new law however, was seen as a major disincentive to multinational companies, because of a constitutional mandate that suspended the granting of new mining concessions and the expiration of several existing concessions. It was also unpopular due to a windfall tariff of 70% on the difference between the sale price and baseline pricing.

Indigenous opposition

Indigenous groups also opposed the law and mining in general, particularly in the Amazon basin, and big protests occurred in 2007 and 2009. Mass protests by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) also occurred in 2012, culminating in a march to the capital, Quito, in March 2013.

The decision to auction off 3 million hectares of the Amazonian rainforest in the Yasuni Nature Reserve to Chinese oil companies in 2013 further raised the ire of indigenous groups. Ecuador, at the time, had a US$7 billion debt to the Chinese Government.

Some refinements to the Mining Law occurred in 2012 and in 2015 the Correa government created new mining investor-friendly taxes and government incentives and policies to further attract mining. These included the creation of the Mining Ministry (now the Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources Ministry).

By March 2016, guidelines for granting metallic mining concessions across the country were created. Local communities and, in particular, indigenous communities, were kept in the dark as to these developments.

Moreno's mining boom

In May 2017, Lenin Moreno came to power and in 2018 the 70% windfall tariff was lifted by his government. Moreno went cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund for a US$10bn package of loans, which meant cuts in government spending. Mining was seen as a means of generating revenue and was expected to bring in US$715 million of taxes for the government by 2021.

Many conservationists first became alerted to the mining company “invasion” in 2017 when volunteers at the 5000ha Los Cedros Reserve, located in the northwest of the country noticed forest disturbances on the edge of the reserve, which they attributed to illegal miners.

Los Cedros was created in the late 1980s through a grant from the Australian Government’s AusAID program and contains some of the most biodiverse forest on the planet. It has been fiercely protected since that time, with 1200 scientists from around the world supporting its long term protection from mining.

After conducting further research, campaigners soon realised that 68% of Los Cedros had been under a mining concession for several months to Canadian mining company Cornerstone Capital Resources.

More investigations followed and the alarming discovery was made that the concession over Los Cedros was only the tip of the iceberg. A third of the entire country of Ecuador (7.17 million ha) had been opened up to mining concessions, with a massive amount of concessions on protected forests and indigenous lands.

Australian mining interests

Melbourne Rainforest Action Group formed in 2018 to research which Australian mining companies were investing, exploring and ultimately mining in Ecuador.

The company with the largest number of concessions (more than 70) is little-known Brisbane-based exploration company Solgold. Solgold had been exploring in Ecuador since 2011, so had the edge on other companies by establishing a foothold in the country. Their prized asset was a concession located in the north of the country called Cascabel, which had initially been “owned” by Cornerstone, which kept a 15% interest in the concession.

Solgold CEO Nick Mather was involved with Waratah Coal, one the first companies to propose mining in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. Waratah was snapped up by Clive Palmer in 2008 and Mather went on to help develop the coal seam gas industry in Queensland. Australian miners BHP and Newcrest Mining also have an interest in Solgold, each owning 14% of the company. BHP also has further mining concessions in north-western Ecuador, very close to Los Cedros. Their exploration was resisted by local communities in the Intag Valley and BHP raised the ire of many after their exploration activities badly polluted the Manduriaca River.

Melbourne-based Newcrest Mining’s main interest is in the south-east of the country, in the headwaters of the Amazon. Production began this year at a massive underground mine, Fruta Del Norte, which Newcrest has a 32% stake in. The company developing the mine was the Swedish firm, Lundin Mining.

Forty kilometres north of Fruta del Norte, production has also just started at the huge Mirador mine, owned by Chinese firms China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) and Tongling Nonferrous. This mine, also in the headwaters of the Amazon, plans to have the world’s tallest tailings dam, three times higher than any other.

In light of the disastrous tailings dams collapses in Brazil over the past few years, there are very real concerns that a similar dam collapse at Mirador could destroy thousands of kilometres of waterways in the Amazon.

Further investigations found that Australian mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest were also active in Ecuador. Rinehart’s company, a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting, Hanrine, owns several concessions just south of Cascabel and Forrest’s company Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) owns a swath of concessions throughout the central and southern areas of the country. FMG’s concession ownership in Ecuador (about 70) is second only to Solgold, as far as Australian companies go, although its on-ground activities have, so far, been limited. FMG has been active in Ecuador since June 2016.

Gina Rinehart

Rinehart mining camp burnt. Image credit: El Universo

Hancock Prospecting first visited the country in September 2016. Just before concessions were granted to Hanrine in early 2018, a gold rush occurred on one of its concessions called Imba 2.

Up to 10,000 miners from a dozen countries soon flooded into the concession near the small community of Buenos Aires. The gold rush was huge news in Ecuador and it soon became apparent that the illegal miners were also under the thumb of local mafia cartels.

After 18 months, and the reported murders of a number of miners by organised criminals, two thousand troops were sent in to clear out the concession in July last year. Millions of dollars of damage to the concession was reported with some saying that the “foreign” owner of the concession should be held responsible for some of the clean up and security costs. El Comercio reported on August 26 that Hanrine's mining camp near Buenos Aires was set ablaze on August 25.

In August, the media reported that Hanrine’s general manager of operations in Ecuador, Carlos Miguel, had been arrested on arms charges. Miguel’s security company was contracted to provide security for the Ecuadorian embassy in London, a month after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange entered it. There are suggestions that Miguel was arrested because of a dispute between Hanrine and the Chilean and Ecuadorian Government’s over control of a major potential mine called Llurimagua, again in the north west of the country. An offer of $400m had reportedly been made by Hanrine, which supposedly would buy out the Ecuadorian Government’s share.

Other Australian companies involved in Ecuador include Perth-based Sunstone Metals, which owns two concessions in the north and south of the country, with one directly bordering Los Cedros.

Another Perth-based company, Titan Minerals, recently took over the Canadian company Core Gold, which owns a processing plant and concessions in southern Ecuador, and Tempus Resources which owns two mining concessions in rainforest in close proximity to the Fruta Del Norte mine.

Local resistance to the mining and exploration is ongoing. Ecuador is a very volatile region. A Chinese-owned mine called Rio Blanco was shut down in 2018 after being fire bombed. Numerous communities are fighting back over loss of control of their lands, including their drinking water supplies.

Solgold has been the target of some protests and BHP is copping plenty of attention in the Intag Valley from a number of communities. Ongoing protests have also occurred in the country’s south east near the Fruta del Norte and Mirador mines, which are located on the lands of the Shuar people.

If Rinehart is successful in her pursuit of the copper resources of Llurimagua mine, she will also encounter the wrath of the Intag Valley community, which has long voiced its opposition to mining in the region.

 

Rinehart mining camp burnt in Ecuador

Gina Rinehart's Ecuador subsidiary Hanrine is facing renewed unrest in the province of Imbabura, Ecuador.

Rinehart mining camp burnt. Image credit: El Universo

On Tuesday 25th, a group of 180 people set fire to a mining camp at one of her concessions in Buenos Aires in north-east Ecuador. More on that here.

The attacks came days after the local parish council met and agreed they would not allow any mining - illegal or legal - in the area due to their constitutional rights to be consulted not being met.

Rinehart's mining concessions have been the subject of unrest since 2018 when up to 20,000 miners descended on the area to illegally mine for gold, with several different armed militia fighting for dominance and a number of killings.The army took over in 2019, but the area has been subject to unrest ever since.

The unrest comes only a few weeks after Hanrine's GM in Ecuador Carlos de Miguel was arrested for having an arsenal of illegal assault-type weapons, a charge he subsequently denied. He is now attempting to sue the interior minister and the police over the raids, and has additionally hired an investigations firm to explore government ministers for connections with Chile giant, Codelco.

Sunstone Metals concession El Palmar an ecological and financial nightmare

Sunstone Metals agreement to acquire El Palmar, a copper-gold project in northern Ecuador is an ecological nightmare fraught with risks. El Palmar abuts the Los Cedros Biological Reserve, a scientific observational and research site, with a case for protection soon to be heard at the Constitutional Court in Ecuador.

Mining concessions in and around Los Cedros Reserve. Image credit: Rainforest Action Group
Mining concessions in and around Los Cedros Reserve. Image credit: Rainforest Action Group

Los Cedros Biological Reserve in north-western Ecuador has one of the most biologically diverse habitats in the world, with over 200 species with high extinction risk, five of which are regarded as critically endangered by the Ecuadorian government. The reserve covers more than 4,800 hectares (nearly 12,000 acres) of primary cloud forest, and safeguards the headwaters for four rivers, the Rio Manduriacu, the Rio Verde, the Rio Los Cedros, and the Rio Magdalena Chico.

“The challenge of establishing a mine in this area cannot be underestimated. The hills are precipitous, and the main road through the region is barely wide enough to take a single vehicle with a sheer drop on one side. The challenges for transporting mineral ore are enormous. Add to this new laws by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Mines which prevent mining companies from establishing tailings dams upstream. In an area like this, there is nowhere tailings can be safely stored,” says Rebekah Hayden, a member of the Rainforest Action Group.

The elevations at the Sunstone concession climb from 800m to 1400m in less than a kilometre.

“The area forms the watershed for a number of important rivers, including the Rio Manduriacu which runs at the base of the El Palmar concession. The steepness of the site means contamination of the waterways are inevitable,” Rebekah Hayden says.

“Previous owners of El Palmar halted plans for exploration once they realised how difficult the terrain is for such little gain. Sunstone’s purchase may well lure in investors whose money will end up at Bramaderos,” says Anthony Amis, a researcher for the Rainforest Action Group.

Sunstone Metals are just the latest mining company to circle the reserve. The Ecuadorian state mining company ENAMI is jointly exploring the reserve with Chile giant Codelco and Cornerstone Capital Resources. BHP also has claims directly adjacent to, and slightly overlapping the reserve.

The scientific importance of this area was emphasised by a letter-writing campaign organised by the US Centre for Biological Diversity in July to the CEOs of the various mining companies, which was signed by 1200 scientists including Jane Goodall and EO Wilson.

“The local community is strongly opposed to mining, with an ongoing legal campaign against ENAMI and Cornerstone Capital Resources about to go to the Constitutional Court. A new mine in the area could not be established without a protracted legal campaign and active community resistance,” says Rebekah Hayden.

“After several years of fighting the mining companies in courts, in May the Constitutional Court of Ecuador announced it will take on the case of Los Cedros, in a move which could prevent other Australian companies like BHP, Newcrest, Hancock Prospecting, Fortescue Metals and Solgold from mining in Protected Forests,” says Rebekah Hayden.

Los Cedros Reserve was established in 1988 with the help of a grant from the Australian Government’s Development Assistance Bureau and the support of Australian not-for-profit organisation the Rainforest Information Centre.

Full media Release here.

Rinehart vs Chilean Govt over spoils for copper mine

Ecuadorian investigation shows a conflict between Codelco and a subsidiary of Australia’s Hancock Prospecting, Hanrine, over control of the Llurimagua copper mine.

LLURIMAGUA. Image credit: Periodismo de investigacion

Information revealed on August 3, in the Periodismo de Investigación article The war for Llurimagua, sheds light on the activities of a subsidiary company owned by Gina Rinehart, Australia’s wealthiest person, as she tries to gain influence and inroads into the global copper supply.

‘The unstable situation in Ecuador has meant that the planned influence has definitely not gone to plan. Some would say it’s been an unmitigated disaster and could undermine confidence in the entire Ecuadorian mining industry,’ says Anthony Amis, a researcher for the Rainforest Action Group, an organisation investigating the actions of Australian mining companies in Ecuador.

‘The Llurimagua concession is located in the north west of the country and has been the source of conflict between communities in the Intag Valley and the Ecuadorian State since 1995. For instance, 389 troops and elite police were used against the community who opposed the mine in 1994, with a community leader jailed for 10 months on false charges,’ Mr Amis says.

In recent years, the Ecuadorian Government Mining Agency (ENAMI) joined up with the Chilean Government’s Copper Arm (Codelco) to jointly develop the Llurimagua mine. Codelco is the world’s largest copper miner.

‘The Llurimagua region lies under primary cloud forests, and is included as a Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the most biodiverse regions of earth. Mining would cause massive deforestation and pollution of rivers and streams across a vast area. Hundreds of animals and plants would face extinction if mining was approved,’ Mr Amis says.

The War for Llurimagua article reveals significant details about the fight for control over the copper mine – slated to become one of Ecuador’s largest.

‘The article reveals conflict between Codelco and a subsidiary of Australia’s Hancock Prospecting, Hanrine, over who would control the development of Llurimagua,’ Mr Amis says. ‘The conflict was recently highlighted by the arrest of Hanrine’s manager, Carlos de Miguel for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Miguel argued in the press that he was innocent and that the Minister Maria Paula Roma was targeting him over other issues.’

Apparently, Hanrine and Codelco had been in dispute over Llurimagua since 2017, with Hanrine offering up to $400m for access to the Llurimgua concession. Codelco were more or less granted the concession for “free” by the support of past Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

‘Hanrine was granted access to 6 mining concessions by Lenin Moreno’s Government in January 2018, but a public relations calamity unfolded at the same time, with 10,000 illegal miners starting a gold rush on one of those concessions, Imba 2. The Government sent in 2000 soldiers to clear out the concession in July 2019 due to murders, violence and influence of mafia cartels. It is unclear if Hanrine has gained back control of the concession and who pays for the massive remediation costs due to environmental damage. Welcome to Ecuador,’ Mr Amis says.

Hanrine apparently wrote dozens of letters to the Ecuadorian Government requesting that the Llurimagua concession by opened up to an auctioning process. In response to this pressure, Codelco’s Attorney General recently wrote to Hancock’s Executive General Manager in Perth, more or less saying “Stop interfering in our business”.

Furthermore, ‘…any subsequent action by Hancock will undoubtedly constitute conscious and intentional interference that could be extremely detrimental to Codelco's contractual rights.”

“In light of the foregoing, Codelco requests that Hancock and any of its subsidiaries and / or affiliated entities immediately desist from any conduct that may interfere, directly or indirectly, with Codelco's contractual relationships related to the Llurimagua Project. Additionally, Codelco reserves all of its rights against Hancock with respect to any past or ongoing conduct that interferes with its contractual relationships as set forth above, including its right to request injunctive relief, damages and any other order deemed appropriate in light of the circumstances ”.[1]

Carlos Miguel has had apparent influence with both the Correa and Moreno Governments. He was also obviously influential in Hanrine getting the 6 concessions near Buenos Aires under the Moreno Government and had developed a close friendship with Correa’s Minister of Mines, Javier Cordova. Furthermore, Miguel had also formed a relationship with ex-Enami manager Stevie Gamboa, who on leaving Enami became the legal advisor for Hanrine. Miguel also ran a private security company and has a detailed past linking him with privileged information regarding a number of infrastructure developments in Ecuador.

‘If Miguel’s recent brush with the law is a payback of some kind from the Ecuadorian Government, one has to wonder what else he has done to obviously upset the Ecuadorian State. One also has to wonder what the response will be from Miguel and Hanrine?,’ Mr Amis says.

The world’s resource companies continue to target South America for raw resources, including resources for renewable technology. Copper is being marketed as a requirement for electric cars, batteries and the like. If markets are denied by Governments, industrialists can mount all forms of pressure on non-compliant Governments. This has recently been highlighted in a number of publications concerning Elon Musk and lithium in Bolivia.

[1] As quoted in the Periodismo de Investigación article: https://periodismodeinvestigacion.com/2020/08/03/la-guerra-por-llurimagua/

 

 FULL MEDIA RELEASE HERE.

Mining at Llurimagua – a social and environmental catastrophe

Selling the World a Social and Environmental Catastrophe: Ecuador’s Llurimagua Mining Project
By Carlos Zorilla

The government of Ecuador has been busy trying sell its share of the troubled Llurimagua copper project to a third party of late. Right now it is owned by two state-owned mining companies, Ecuador’s ENAMI and the Chilean giant, CODELCO, the world’s largest copper producer. Big names like BHP have been mentioned, as well as lesser players, like Hanrine (subsidiary of Australian Hancock). There is even evidence than a Chinese firm is interested.  The government’s main selling point is that the concession could hold “one of the richest copper deposits in the Andes”.  What they don’t tell you that it is one hell of a conflictive area, where countless human rights violations have been documented, and where the communities have battled against the development of the mine since 1995 and kicked out two transnational mining companies.

Prospective Buyers Beware

Contamination from exploration activities, 2017. Junin community reserve. Image credit: Carlos Zorilla

Government officials and the press also conveniently leave out that the only way the government and Codelco was able to insert themselves in Intag was  by illegally and violently occupying the whole Intag valley in 2014 with the “cooperation” of 389 elite police and military personnel. And then, only after a campaign of intimidation by falsely arresting a community leader and jailing him for 10 months without sentencing. And, I’m sure the government officials are telling prospective buyers that where Codelco and Enami are planning on exploring and previously explored, is within the Junin community forest reserve and in the middle of an unexplored pre-Incan site. Right?

Oh, and then there is that minor issue the copper ore laying beneath primary cloud forests that are part of the Tropical Andes, by far the most diverse of the world’s 36 Biodiversity Hotspots.  In fact, the forests within the mining concession harbor HUNDREDS of animal and plant species in danger of extinction. Many are critically endangered, and some are found here and nowhere else on the planet.  Another minor detail the greenwashers might be forgetting to mention is that, in Ecuador, since the 2008 Constitution, Nature has rights. Species extinction would certainly violate such rights.

Did I forget to mention that in 1996 Japanese scientist produced a preliminary Environmental Impact Study for a small copper mine? What they predicted might turn you off to mining in Intag. “Massive deforestation”; drying up of the local climate; contamination of rivers and streams with lead, arsenic, cadmium and chromium, and relocation of hundreds of families from four communities are just some of the findings.  Two years later they reported the ore deposit could be 5 times larger. Add the fact that the ore is, according to the latest estimates, very low grade (0,44%), that by all indications it seems to be very deeply buried, that the area gets between 3 and 5 meters of rain annually, that it is located in a seismically active part of the Andes, in extremely steep terrain, and you have the ingredients for creating one of the world’s worse environmental nightmares.  Especially since Codelco is “guesstimating” the ore body might possibly hold 17 million tons of copper, incrusted in 4 billion tons of ore. If it’s ever confirmed, the ore body would be 55 times larger than what the Japanese used to base their apocalyptic social and environmental impacts on. Then there is the pesky issue of profitability. Low grade deposit, deeply buried, mixed with arsenic and lead plus, at the very low-price tag of USD $2.00 per ton to remediate the mining site, the project would become instantly unprofitable. But then again, who’s worrying about numbers?

If these reasons are not enough to dissuade any reasonable thinking person, there are plenty others.

For more information check out:

www.decoin.org   and www.codelcoecuador.com

For quick oversight of impacts of advanced exploration in Intag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kztjjSHrQ

Gold, Guns and Gina Rinehart’s mining concessions in Ecuador

Carlos De Miguel III, the General Manager of Hanrine Ecuadorian Excploration and Mining SA, a subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, was apprehended by police for an alleged illegal weapons cache. Mr De Miguel was found with several pistols, rifles, and more than 9,500 rounds of ammunition.

Gina Rhinehart in Ecuador
CREDIT: MATT GOLDING, Sydney Morning Herald

A spokesman for Hancock in Australia said in a statement that Carlos De Miguel held “the correct permits for these weapons which are approved by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defence. The spokesperson went on to note "the safety of employees at Hanrine is very important to Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL), and executives of HPPL visit the project from time to time, their safety while visiting Ecuador is also important.”

The discovery of the weapons cache raises one obvious question; why is Ecuador considered so unsafe that Hanrine executives need to possess such advanced weaponry and vast quantities of ammunition?

To understand the sovereign risks of doing business in Ecuador, we need to touch upon the history of Hanrine's mining concessions, and the clouds of controversy hanging over their purchase; along with the dangers of operating so close to the unstable Colombian border region. 

Police inspect a guns and ammo cache of Hanrine General Manager, Carlos De Miguel III in Ecuador. (Video still)

Hanrine obtained six exploratory concessions (totaling 27032 ha) located just south of Solgold-Cornerstone's Cascabel concession, in January and March 2018. According to Ecuadorian media reports, Hanrine was controversially awarded these mining concessions after the government had previously pledged to suspend the mining cadastre and cancel more than 2000 mining concessions.

On Dec 11th, 2017, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno had announced his mining policy u-turn following an uprising by indigenous groups and mass protests lead by the Prefect of the province of Azuay, Yaku Perez; along with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE).

Indigenous groups led a long march from the province of Zamora to the capital Quito, in defense of water catchments and against large-scale extractive industries. The protests brought the capital to a stand still and led to the resignation of former Minister of Mining, Javier Cordova, who had failed to halt the allocation of mining concessions during the contested period.

Illegal mining in Buenos Aires, Ecuador
Illegal mining in Buenos Aires (Hanrine Mining Concession), Ecuador. Image credit: Ecuavisa 2018

The nationwide protests eventually led to a popular referendum in February 2018 in which Ecuadorians approved, among other proposals, to prohibit metal mining in protected areas, intangible zones and urban centers. President Moreno even publicly declared that mining had left a hundred rivers "severely" contaminated in the country.

Moreover, concerns have also been raised by the Ecuadorian press about the process by which Hanrine obtained these 6 disputed concessions in just a few short weeks rather than the 8 months or more it usually takes to secure mining titles. On 27 September, 2018, the assemblyman for Imbabura, Marcelo Simbaña, formalised a complaint before the General Comptroller of the State regarding inconsistencies in awarding the mining concessions to Hanrine.

Hanrine concessions
Gina's Hanrine concession areas in yellow. Image credit: Rainforest Action Group

In February 2018, just a month after awarding Hanrine the disputed concessions, a state of emergency in Buenos Aires is declared. Police and military are called in to begin confiscating hundreds of tons of mining material and clear out the illegal 'wildcat' miners and heavily armed rebel groups that had prevented Hanrine workers from accessing their concession areas.

The Hanrine concessions sit dangerously close to the Colombian border, an area renowned for para-military drug trafficking, corruption and money laundering. The area has been subject to significant unrest, with thousands of illegal miners, a number of deaths (including a 14-year-old child), and complaints of organised crime, drug trafficking and prostitution rings running alongside the illegal mining. After numerous arrests for illegal mining, the artisanal miners formed The National Union of Miners in Ecuador at El Triunfo (August 2018) to argue for the legalisation of their small scale mining operations on Hanrine concessions.

Ecuador army entering Rinehart concession. Image credit: El Pais

In July 2019, a massive military operation is organised to put an end to the illegal mining and organised crime and violence it attracted, with only mixed success. It's quite clear Hancock Prospecting's subsidiary is operating in an incredibly dangerous and complex business environment, facing strong opposition from small-scale miners, indigenous groups and environmental NGOs that are united in their opposition to large-scale mining in the region.

In a surprising twist, Hanrine is also facing an increasingly hostile government. Tension between the Ecuadorian Government and Hanrine is now building. According to the complainant, the arrest of Carlos De Miguel is a premeditated attack to block his activities as manager of the company he represents "due to clear and evident private interests of the minister  [Maria Paula Romo], who in due course will have to explain them to the country."

Is a legal challenge between embattled Hanrine and the Ecuadorian Government in the wind? 

Stay tuned for future updates on this high-stakes legal battle currently underway in Ecuador.

 

Full English-language articles here and here and Spanish-language sources here and here

Constitutional Court could save Australian Government funded Reserve in Ecuador from mining

A forest reserve in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, originally set up with Australian Government support and home to over 200 species at risk of extinction, has been scheduled for a landmark legal case. In a precedent-setting move, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador has announced it will take on the case of the Los Cedros Protected Forest, which is threatened by grand-scale copper and gold mining, by using unique Rights of Nature laws enshrined in the constitution. 

Edgar Merlo, who heads the legal team for Los Cedros, says: “The [Constitutional] Court’s ruling in this case would be a first in Ecuador: on the Rights of Nature, the right to prior consultation of communities, and the right to legal certainty, since concessions were granted without respecting the declaration of protective forests. The final judgement by the Constitutional Court in this case could change the legal focus in Ecuador, South America, and the entire world on the Rights of Nature and the rights of local communities, so that mining concessions are not granted in Protected Forests.”

One of the UK’s leading environmentalists, Jonathon Porritt echoed this view: “Ecuador was the first nation to include the Rights of Nature in its constitution,” he said. “It could now become the first nation to protect large swathes of biodiversity, based upon this constitutional innovation. This would set an invaluable precedent worldwide.”

Plate-billed Mountain Toucan. Image credit: Murray Cooper

Los Cedros Biological Reserve in north-western Ecuador was established in 1988 with the help of a grant from the Australian Government’s Development Assistance Bureau and the support of Australian not-for-profit organisation the Rainforest Information Centre.

Los Cedros is one of the most biologically diverse habitats in the world, with more than 4,800 hectares of primary cloud forest, and it safeguards the headwaters of four important watersheds. It protects over 200 species with high extinction risk, five of which are regarded as critically endangered by the Ecuadorian government. (see Roy et al. 2018, iNaturalist, and the Los Cedros website for more information.)

“The remoteness and high-quality of the habitat explain why there are six species of cats and three species of primate, including some of the last critically endangered brown-headed spider monkeys in the world, as well as the endangered Andean spectacled bear. New species are also being discovered every year,” explained Dr Mika Peck from Sussex University.

“This biodiversity was recognised when the Constitutional Court specifically cited the importance of Los Cedros in preserving the last populations of the spider monkey and the Andean spectacled bear which is in danger of extinction,” says John Seed, founder of the Rainforest Information Centre.

José DeCoux, the manager of Los Cedros says: “Mining in Protected Forests is a violation of the legal status of declared Protected Areas, the collective rights of indigenous peoples, the Rights of Nature, and the right of communities to prior consultation before potential environmental damages.”

Mining concessions in and around Los Cedros Reserve. Image credit: Rainforest Action Group
Mining concessions in and around Los Cedros Reserve. Image credit: Rainforest Action Group

In 2017, the Ecuadorian government announced new concessions for mining exploration on over 2.9m hectares (6.17m acres) of land, a roughly 300% increase. Many of these exploratory concessions are in previously protected forests and indigenous territories. Mining exploration is also occurring in headwater ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots of global importance like Los Credos, and appears to be in violation of Ecuadorian law and international treaties.

“More than 30% of Protected Forests have been under imminent threat from mining since 2017, when a policy change within the Ecuadorian government allowed these protected lands to be included in mining concessions,” explained Paul Gilding, former Executive Director of Greenpeace Australia and Greenpeace International.

As part of this rapid mining expansion, BHP and Canadian mining company Cornerstone Capital Resources were given mining permits in collaboration with the Ecuadorian state mining company, ENAMI.

“The permit for mining was given despite the Ministry of Environment’s own publication citing Los Cedros in its ‘Areas of Priority for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Ecuador’,” says John Seed.

The Los Cedros Protected Forest authorities won their case for an Action of Protection in the Provincial Court of Imbabura in June 2019, which stripped the mining companies of their operating permits. The government, working alongside the mining companies, subsequently appealed against the decision.

Meanwhile, the mining company Cornerstone Capital Resources continued exploration within the protected area in direct contravention of the court order, despite overwhelming opposition in the region, and without the appropriate permits.

“This case expresses the current conflict between the Ecuadorian government and its intention to open the country’s untapped oil and mineral reserves to foreign investment and the long-held public sentiment in Ecuador against extractionist economic development,” says John Seed.

“The case will help determine the balance between short-term economic gains through mining development and the slower — but generally more sustainable — economic development that accompanies long-term biodiversity conservation,” explained John Seed.

“This case has implications not just for Los Cedros, but for all 186 Protected Forests in Ecuador, totalling some 2.4m hectares,” said Dr Bitty Roy, Professor of Biology at the University of Oregon and one of a number of scientists for whom Los Cedros is a research base.

Globally, this is the first case where constitutional protections for nature will be evoked at a national level to protect an ecosystem from large-scale mining. Ecuador remains the only country in the world to have enshrined these rights in its Constitution. It is also a country that has recently attracted a massive amount of interest from transnational mining companies, who see vast potential in its mineral wealth, particularly copper and gold.

Australia is Ecuador’s biggest investor, with companies like SolGold, BHP, Newcrest, Hancock Prospecting, Fortescue Metals, Titan and Tempus Resources pouring millions into copper and gold exploration.

Around 750,000 hectares of legally Protected Forests across the country are currently covered by mining exploration concessions. Australian mining companies stand to be impacted by any positive ruling on the case, with at least 67 concessions covering, in whole or part, Indigenous territories or Protected Forests.

Aussie miner SolGold would be most impacted by the ruling, with 19 concessions covering Protected Forests and 18 covering Indigenous territories.

Full media release here.

Elected local officials threatened with jail for opposing mining

(MiningWatchCanada, Ottawa)

The elected President and Vice President of a rural municipality in northwestern Ecuador have been threatened with criminal, administrative, and constitutional charges if they approve any measures to prohibit mining. The threat came in response to concerns expressed by the Decentralized Autonomous Government (GAD in Spanish) of “6 de Julio de Cuellaje” parish, in the diverse agricultural and cloud forest region of Intag, that the government of Ecuador was taking advantage of the COVID-19 emergency to impose the Llurimagua copper-gold project against local opposition.

Graham Richards. Image credit: Mining Watch Canada

GAD President Ángel Widberto Flores Pilatuña and Vice President Graham Richards received a letter from the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources (MERNNR) on May 27, which threatens them with criminal, administrative, and constitutional charges if they approve any anti-mining related norms at the parish level:

“Any approval of a normative or administrative act by the GADs which attempts to prohibit mining activities could result in the imposition of legal actions before the justice tribunals… and also prosecution under the criminal code.”

The letter was responding to a communique that the parish government wrote to President Lenin Moreno on April 18, 2020, to express its concerns regarding the government’s signing of a joint venture agreement with Chilean mining giant, Codelco, to push forward the controversial Llurimagua project. The letter noted that the government is taking advantage of the pandemic sanitary emergency situation to push the project through without the consent of the local communities, a move which they consider illegitimate and illegal, and highlighted the region’s resistance to industrial mining for over 25 years.

In response to the threats, several Ecuadorian organisations released a statement condemning the move, stating that “the government, in collusion with mining companies, CANNOT put “strategic projects” over and above human and constitutional rights. ...The actions of the MERNNR demonstrate...that Ecuadorians are living in a mining dictatorship.”

This is the latest of a series of actions that governments and mining companies have taken during the COVID-19 pandemic to repress widespread anti-mining sentiment across the globe and in Ecuador, reveals a new report.  In May, the Ecuadorian government approved a protocol for mining companies to operate during the pandemic, which included providing military convoys for mineral transportation. This came just after three public officials were arrestedin the province of Morona Santiago for attempting to block trucks going to Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte mine for fear their entry into the remote Amazon region could help transmit the virus.

Despite the threats, the GAD is not backing down. “We will not allow the government or companies to steamroll over our legitimate decisions and push through mega-mining. This pandemic cannot be used as an excuse to impose these projects on us, or our future generations,” said GAD Vice-President Graham Richards.

Cuellaje is facing multiple mining threats: Chilean copper giant Codelco, Australian mining giant BHP, and Canadian junior mining company Cornerstone Capital Resources all have concession rights in the area. Mining activities are widely opposed in the region due to its ecological sensitivity and its rich and diverse small-scale agricultural production, ancient forests, and vibrant tourism sector.

For more information contact:

  • Graham Richards, Cuellaje Parish (Spanish and English), +593 98 846 1692
  • Kirsten Francescone, MiningWatch Canada (Spanish and English), +1 (437) 345-9881

A new global analysis of the mining industry’s pandemic profiteering

Over 300 organizations express solidarity with communities and workers affected by reckless mining industry profiteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

Over 300 organizations from around the world have signed onto an open-statement condemning the ways that the mining industry and numerous governments are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to manufacture new mining opportunities and enhance their damaged reputations.

The statement identifies four major trends in how the mining industry has abused the pandemic to turn a profit and advance their interests, putting land and water protectors at greater risk of harm:

  1. Ignoring the threat of the pandemic and continuing to operate, putting communities and workers at grave risk of infection;
  2. Continuing violence against defenders and repressing community protests, many long-standing, in order to promote more mining;
  3. Donating money, sanitary supplies and test-kits to cover up their dirty operations and portray themselves as public saviours; and
  4. Securing regulatory changes to eliminate public oversight and expedite permits for their operations.

The Global Solidarity Statement condemns the responses of companies and governments to the pandemic as aggressions which exacerbate the multiple pandemics – health, economic, violence, militarization and corporate capture -  that Indigenous peoples, affected communities and workers face on a daily basis.

In the context of an intersecting global health, economic, ecological and climate crisis, they also assert that healthy communities, Indigenous peoples, workers, and social movements – not the profits of predatory mining corporations – are essential during the pandemic and must be at the centre of plans moving forward.

Snapshot report - Voices from the Ground: How the Global Mining Industry is Profiting from the COVID-19 Pandemic

A snapshot report, Voices from the Ground: How the Global Mining Industry is Profiting from the COVID-19 Pandemic, was also released today highlighting dozens of cases from around the world that exemplify  the trends identified in the statement. You can access the report here and add your name to the Global Solidarity Statement here.

Report Shows Global Mining Industry Profiting from Pandemic, Putting Communities and Workers at Risk from Disease, Repression and Regulatory Rollbacks

We may be wearing masks, but our eyes are wide-open saying NO to Megamining. Argentina. Image credit: Nicolas Palacios

Since March, the mining industry has been declared ‘essential’ in many countries worldwide, enabling them to operate amid government lockdowns with devastating results, according to a new report. The analysis draws from field reports and a review of nearly 500 press, company and civil society statements, 180 of which are directly related to community and/or workers concerns.

As a result of the industry’s behavior in the midst of the pandemic, the authors note, mining sites worldwide are emerging as hot spots of the disease, putting at grave risk workers and nearby Indigenous and rural communities, many of whom already suffer mining-related health impacts.

More than 3,000 mine workers in 18 different countries have reported outbreaks at their mines, leading to fear that the virus will spread among local populations with pre-existing mine-related illnesses that make them particularly vulnerable.

Massive outbreaks at the Cobre Panama (Panama), Olimpiada (Russia), Lac des Iles (Canada) and Antamina (Peru) mines went unrecognized as hundreds of workers tested positive. Nonetheless, the report reveals, companies continued to operate. Lack of testing in many places and limited oversight mean actual numbers could be far higher, the analysts said.

Under lockdown, land and water protectors are at heightened risk. Reports from the field suggest companies and governments are using the pandemic to stifle or repress long-standing community protests, such as in the Philippines, Honduras, Turkey and Ecuador. Individual defenders also are being threatened and killed with greater intensity in countries such as Colombia and Mexico, according to sources on the ground. In some cases, new legislation is being implemented that could further criminalise social protest or enable greater repression.

In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte’s government is using the pandemic to continue his attack on human rights and land defenders. In April, protesters at the peaceful encampments protesting Oceana Gold’s Didipio mine were violently evicted by police forces. Civil-society organizations there have also condemned the assasination of anti-mining activists and continued red-tagging.

“Even under the COVID-19 Pandemic, extrajudicial killings and other forms of human rights violations persist under the despotic rule of President Rodrigo Duterte,” remarked Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment in a press statement.

In Honduras, the administration of Juan Orlando Hernández has imposed a 24-hour curfew and suspended basic rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, using the military and police to enforce measures. Meanwhile, authorities opened an online window to make it even easier for companies to obtain environmental permits, all of which happens in secret.

A message for and from the hills- Save Our Sperrins! Image credit: Niamh Ní Bhriain and Lorraine Ní Bhriain

“This is just like 1998, when the mining law was passed in the wake of Hurricane Mitch, one of the biggest disasters to hit Honduras that took the life of 20,000 people and left 3 million others homeless, with an economic impact that set us back 40 years. Today, in the midst of a global humanitarian emergency due to COVID-19, the illegitimate government of Juan Orlando Hernández is taking advantage of the crisis to put in place corrupt measures to favour mining,” stated Pedro Landa from the Reflection, Investigation and Communication Team (ERIC/Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación), Honduras

Elsewhere, companies are also securing regulatory changes to benefit them now and in the future, according to the analysis.

In Brazil, a video released by the country’s Supreme Court revealed the Environment Minister stating that the pandemic is an “opportunity to deregulate environmental policy.” In the last two months, the Bolsonaro government has fired top environmental enforcement officers for controlling illegal mining in the Amazon, while dolling out hundreds of concessions rights and moving to approve legislation to further open up Indigenous territories to mining activities.

“Since Jair Bolsonaro took office, our indigenous lands are increasingly affected by predatory economic activities that threaten the integrity of our ancestral territories and the natural resources essential for our survival. With the COVID-19 crisis, the illegal activities of miners, loggers, missionaries, drug traffickers, and other invaders, pose an even greater threat, because they can bring the virus to our territories and communities. For this reason, we demand that any economic activity in our territories be stopped immediately, to guarantee the protection of our children, women, men, youth, wise elders, and relatives in voluntary isolation,” commented Nara Baré, coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations from the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).

In this context, mining company donations to communities and governments is seen as whitewash, especially as they place communities, workers and the environment at further risk.

“COVID-19 isn’t the only health crisis we’re facing. For a decade, communities surrounding the Escobal mine have fought to protect their health from mining activities. Guatemalan courts ordered Pan American Silver to suspend its operations during the consultation and this includes community outreach, which gives rise to tension and conflict. Pan American Silver should tell its employees to stay home and stop trying to buy support for the mine during this significant health crisis,” said Luis Fernando García Monroy on behalf of the Xinka Parliament.

Overall, the stories captured in this report reveal that mining-affected people face multiple pandemics – health, economic, violence, militarization, and corporate capture – which are all getting worse as the Covid-19 pandemic intersects with the predatory mining industry, which they continue to battle to defend their land, water, health and livelihoods.

“Envisioning a way forward that will ensure good food, clean air and water, healthy communities and planetary survival cannot rely on mining corporations and their backers, who are driven by their ruthless pursuit of profits. However, the health-centred struggles and collective approaches of mining-affected communities and Indigenous peoples can help us to refocus on what is truly essential toward a healthier future for all,” says Kirsten Francescone, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada. 

*This report was put together with contributions from Earthworks (USA), Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program (USA), London Mining Network (UK), MiningWatch Canada, Terra Justa, War on Want (UK) and Yes to Life No to Mining with support from many other organizations.

Mining operations at risk as thousands protest austerity measures

People in Ecuador have taken to the streets again this week despite heightened risks of coronavirus over wildly unpopular economic reforms were reintroduced on May 19. Moreno backed down on the measures in October last year after protests caused such unrest that the government had to flee from the capital Quito to Guayaquil.

Protestors in Quito. Image credit: CONAIE

A number of organisations including the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi (MICC), The People’s Front, and the Unitary Front of Workers (FUT), called for the national mobilisation last week.

Protestors called for “employment, education and health for the people” in a wave of discontent and lack of faith in a government seen to be deepening the crisis in Ecuador.

“The fact that Moreno is announcing new measures in the middle of a pandemic is a concerning development and says a great deal about his failure to protect the population,” says Rebekah Hayden, a member of research and advocacy organisation, the Rainforest Action Group.

The measures will see education spending slashed, 12,000 public servants lose their jobs and more than 10 public companies close or merge, including the largest airline in Ecuador (TAME). Salaries of public servants would also be reduced and fuel subsidies axed.

Ecuador has been hard hit by Covid-19, with more than 37,000 confirmed cases and over 3000 confirmed deaths. Given that health care is limited in much of the country and testing has been scarce, the true figure is likely to be significantly higher.

“Many of these reforms, including fuel price rises, will see the poorest Ecuadorians and small-scale farmers hit the most. Closing public companies will lead to further unemployment, a disaster in a country that is already struggling with the huge impact of coronavirus on work and employment, on top of a high level of existing poverty.” Ms Hayden said.

“The reforms by the Ecuadorian government are part of IMF and World Bank mandates that seek to open Ecuador further to international investment, and pave the way for widespread copper and gold mining despite resistance from the population. The IMF loan was provisioned on foreign investment, particularly strategic mining projects such as SolGold’s proposed Cascabel mine which acts as collateral for the loans. Many of these mining projects are still being contested by locals who say they haven’t been consulted,” says Ms Rebekah Hayden.

“It is also concerning that Moreno’s measures came only a week after he announced that all mining restrictions were to be lifted, with military being used to protect their activities. The Rainforest Action Group is worried that the military will be used to push through mining operations in areas where there has been long-standing opposition to mining projects – some of which are currently being contested in court over claims they are illegal due to lack of consultation.

‘The new unrest adds to existing concerns about mining companies continuing to operate in indigenous territories and remote communities despite the risks of coronavirus. At Fruta del Norte, Miguel Gonzalez, the Mayor of Zamora, is concerned that transportation of ore will allow the virus to spread in the province,” Rebekah Hayden says.

“The government’s inability to act effectively in a crisis was made apparent when at least 550 bodies were not collected for up to eight days at Guayaquil, Ecuador’s main port, in April. The current debacle indicates that the government cannot ensure a safe environment for mining – particularly not in the midst of an epidemic,” Rebekah Hayden says.

Full release and contact details here: