Water recharge zones article Not sure what to make of this article. This seems to go against the Constitutional Court ruling...
Ecuador preparing to define areas of south where mining will be banned
Bnamericas
Published: Monday, July 05, 2021 People who voted in a referendum last February to ban mining activity in areas considered essential for recharging aquifers in Azuay province, southern Ecuador, expect the country's environment ministry to release the map of areas where such industrial activity will be prohibited within the next 90 days at most.
"The water recharge zones are fully defined, but they must be ratified by the environment ministry," Cristian Zamora, chair of the Cuenca municipality environment committee, told BNamericas. "The environment minister signed a roadmap a few days ago so the coordinates of the water recharge zones will be established within a maximum of 90 days."
Cuenca public utility Etapa already has the map, but the environment ministry must first validate it.
According to Zamora, there are at least 20 mining projects in the early stages of exploration in aquifer recharge zones that would be affected because they will not be able to move on to the operating phase. They include the Loma Larga polymetallic project, on which construction of the mine was expected to start in the second half of this year.
“All these projects will not be able to go to the operating phase. That has been prohibited since February 7. Only companies that are not in water recharge zones will be able to continue mining activity,” Zamora said.
Last May, Canadian company Dundee Precious Metals reached a definitive agreement to acquire all of the shares of INV Metals, the concessionaire of Loma Larga, thereby becoming the operator of the asset.
Although the ruling of the constitutional court of Ecuador by allowing the public referendum established that it would go into effect in the future and established that concessions include all stages, that is, prospecting, exploitation, transportation and commercialization of mineral resources, those who oppose mining activity claim that even if companies have valid concessions, no firm will be able to carry out such activities in aquifer recharge zones.