Alright folks, let's get down to brass tacks. Ecuador's about to have itself a big ol' referendum at the same time as their general election on August 20. All this is happening in the middle of a kerfuffle about who gets to mine where in the Choco Andino Biosphere Reserve.
• Environmental buffs and locals have been fighting for this referendum for a while now, aiming to stop any and all mining up in the north-west Choco Andino area.
• Diana Atamaint, the big boss of the National Electoral Council, spilled the beans to BNamericas. She's hanging tight for the district of Quito to outline which regions can cast a vote, a detail she's hoping will roll in pretty soon.
• The Constitutional Court gave the green light for a referendum in Quito Metropolitan District (QMD) last year, so now it's all up to the people to decide what mining gets the boot.
• Voters are faced with the choice of banning all metal mining, including copper, gold and silver in some specific areas. All this while hummingbirds and Andean cock-of-the-rocks fly about, seemingly unaware of the impending dynamite explosions.
Now, Choco Andino ain't your average patch of land. UNESCO declared it a biosphere in 2018 due to its crazy unique biodiversity. But the local law doesn't quite see it that way - it's just a bunch of private and protected forests. And folks in the Parish of Pacto, part of the QMD, have been protesting against mining companies wanting to get their slice of the pie.
But here's the thing - there are 12 concessions in the early development stages for copper, gold and silver mining. Ecuador's banking on mining to bring in over $4bn a year by 2025, accounting for 15% of the country's total exports. So, it's not just about the birds and the bees, it's also about the benjamins.
[Original article by Florence Jones, published on https://www.mining-technology.com/news/ecuador-to-hold-mining-referendum-amid-protected-area-disputes/]
#Gold #Copper
