Gina Rinehart considered “personally responsible” for human rights abuses in Buenos Aires, Ecuador
Ecuador Army attack peaceful civilians resisting Rinehart mining on their land
Win for Los Cedros Reserve could impact mining concessions across Ecuador
Research on HPPL
(45 page PDF)
Gina Rinehart is Australia’s wealthiest person, and was the world’s wealthiest woman in 2012. She has links to right-wing think tanks such as the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation.
Like her father who started two newspapers to promote his political views, Gina’s core strategy involves influencing popular opinion through media and independent think tanks. She bought a 10% stake in Australian commercial television network, Channel 10, becoming a shareholder and board member from 2010-14. Six months after her involvement, the network launched the conservative right-wing Bolt Report. In June 2012, she became a board member of Fairfax media company and was their largest shareholder (18.67%). She sold her shares in 2015 because she refused to sign the company’s charter of editorial independence.
Rinehart does not believe in climate change, and some have claimed her media purchases of Channel 10 and Fairfax were used to promote the views of climate change deniers. She is a major funder of Australia’s leading climate change institution – the Institute of Public Affairs – donating $2.3 million in 2016 and $2.2 million in 2017 (30-50% of their entire revenue stream). She was made a life member in November 2016. The IPA actively pushes climate science denialism, publishing books and sponsoring speaking tours of prominent climate science deniers.
Gina is outspoken about mining taxes, speaking out against the Rudd Government’s proposed mining tax in 2010 at a rally in Perth. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd resigned 15 days later and the new Julia Gillard government agreed to take billions of dollars a year less in taxes.
Hanrine Ecuadorian Exploration and Mining SA (HEEM) are the HPPL subsidiary operating in Ecuador. Offices were set up in Ecuador in 2017.
HEEM has owned four tenements located a few kilometres south of Solgold-Cornerstone’s Cascabel concession since January 2018. The area has been subject to unrest ever since the concession was awarded, with 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.
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 HEEM.
In January 2018, Ecuadorian media reported that up to 12,000 illegal miners from Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador were in the Buenos Aires Parish. Most of these were inside the new HEEM concession, now known as El Triunfo. The population of the parish increased from 1500 people to 4000 between June 2017 and June 2018.
Police and military began confiscating hundreds of tons of mining material from the area in Febrary 2018. After numerous arrests for illegal mining, the miners formed The National Union of Miners in Ecuador at El Triunfo (August 2018) to argue for the legalisation of their mining.
Miners proposed HEEM distribute 300 hectares in each of the five mining blocks located in the north of the country, including El Triunfo, and that the activity be recognised as small mining.
Revelations made that profits of up to $500,000 per month are generated illegally from mining at El Triunfo (12 February 2019). Ex-FARC members from Colombia are reportedly involved. Reports suggest that HEEM contracted the military and the police to evict the illegal miners as recently as December, with no success. The miners are well armed and control a large amount of territory.
In July 2019, the Ecuadorian military finally sent in 2000 troops into Rinehart's Imba 2 mining concession to quell conflict between armed illegal mining factions in the area, after a number of shootouts saw up to 6 people killed, with their bodies dumped down the mines.
Overview of HPPL, with explorations in Ecuador.
(2 page document)
Research on HPPL
(45 page PDF)
Resumen de HPPL, sus exploraciones en Ecuador y problemas con sus operaciones en Sudamérica.
(Documento de 2 páginas)