JUST BUY MOREEcuador plans mining overhaul; wants new deals
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By Alonso Soto
QUITO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Ecuador plans to revoke mostmining concessions, but preserve those held by the industry'sbiggest players in a move to push them to renegotiate theirdeals, top government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
The assembly rewriting the country's constitution isanalyzing a government proposal to issue a decree to booststate control over the nascent gold, silver and copper miningsector.
A copy of the proposal obtained by Reuters calls for thetakeover of most of the country's 3,000 concessions, but wouldexclude companies that have big investments in exploration. Thedocument does not detail a capital amount.
"The main companies will not have any problems," a topgovernment official close to mining policy decisions toldReuters, asking not to be named.
President Rafael Correa, a left-wing economist and ally ofVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has vowed to boost thegovernment's role in natural resource extraction to betterdistribute wealth in the poverty-stricken country.
Last week the government revoked 587 mining concessionsheld by companies that failed to pay annual fees, sparkingfears among investors of greater state intervention in a sectorthat is largely still just exploring for precious metals.
Another official close to Correa said the decree wouldexclude companies like Aurelian Resources (ARU.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), CorrienteResources (ACX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), Iamgold Corp. (IMG.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), Dynasty Metals(DMM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), Coastport Capital and International Minerals Corp(IMZ.TO: Quote, Profile, Research).
The official said the decree's goal was "to force companiesthat have invested to come in and talk." Continued...