New Minister Holds Upbeat Mining ForumCornerstone's Dennis Jones was invited to attend this. Looking better all the time.
New Minister Holds Upbeat Mining Forum
By Silvia Santacruz
Ecuador Mining News
September 19, 2007
WASHINGTON – The tone of Ecuador’s international mining forum was one of encouragement for metallic mining production in this South American country, according to two EMN sources present at the gathering.
About 350 conference participants cheered the Chilean and Peruvian guest speakers as they recounted their own countries’ success stories including the economic growth, royalties, and social development created by industrial mining operations.
The one-day event was the second such mining conference of the Correa administration but the first to include large-scale mining firms, as the earlier national mining debate presided over by former MEM Minister Alberto Acosta excluded all but small artisan miners.
In stark contrast, today’s gathering held by Mines and Petroleum (MMP) Minister Galo Chiriboga assembled not only large firms but diverse stakeholders from all over this Andean nation. Mining executives, indigenous community representatives and the general public traveled from the mineral-rich Azuay, Imbabura, Bolivar and Zamora Chinchipe provinces to the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO) auditorium, in Quito.
Chiriboga, who recently stated his support for large-scale mining that is environmentally and socially sustainable, invited mining companies to discuss reforms that would be mutually beneficial to Ecuador and industry. See Q&A. He also announced the restructuring of his ministry to enable it to create improved national mining policies in the short and long term.
At the conference opening, Chiriboga said new mining policies would be established with the input of private companies, the government and communities affected by mining operations. Read MMP Press Release (Only Spanish)
Undersecretary of Mines José Serrano and Undersecretary of Environment Lucy Ruiz, both of the MMP, also participated in the forum. Representatives from Canada, Chile, Peru, Spain and Ecuador joined the officials.
The scene near the conference facility conveyed both the sensitivity of the gathering and the government’s commitment. The low-profile event, organized in one week, took place uninterrupted by anti-mining protests but it was well-guarded by national police who surrounded FLACSO during the forum.