Mining Paradise: The Police and Army visit Junin- on the same day!! La policía y ejército visitan a Junin- en el mismo día!!
Mining Paradise: The police and military harass Junin. In the same day! Within hours of each other, first a squad of 20 anti-narcotics police take to hills above Junin supposedly based on a denunciation of a plantation of coca. Hours later- and I am not making this up- a squad of 8 military personnel, all […]
Read MoreMining Paradise, August 2012: I WAS WRONG ABOUT CORREA– (ME EQUIVOQUÉ SOBRE CORREA)
I WAS WRONG ABOUT CORREA — Español a contiuación I admit it, I thought he would wait until after the elections- due to take place in Februrary- before sending in the mining thugs to try to impose the government’s mining agenda on Intag’s communities. Yet, as I recall, I think I mentioned the fact that […]
Read MoreMINING PARADISE 2012: CODELCO HOPES TO START EXPLORING JUNIN IN 2013
MINING PARADISE 2012: CODELCO HOPES TO START EXPLORING JUNIN IN 2013 This last Thursday (July 26), the governments of Ecuador and Chile signed a bilateral agreement to strengthen their political, cultural and economic ties. In the economic sphere mining took center stage. I am reproducing the part on mining below, and as you can see, the government of Ecuador would like Codelco to start exploration in the Junin concessions (now called Llurimagua), in the second semester of 2013 (4-5 months after Ecuador’s next elections). Another aspect of this agreement that stands out is Codelco’s willingness to distort the truth so openly. I am referring to the part in the agreement where it says that Codelco started the process of obtaining the environmental license, and the socialization of the project. The truth is that so far, there has not been any socialization by Codelco within the Llurimagua concession. Another worrisome aspect is them mentioning that they hope to start the advanced phase of exploration, which is much more impacting that the initial exploration (heavier equipment, deeper holes, more drilling). By Ecuadorian law, before advance exploration can take place, the companies have to conclude the initial phase of exploration. And for both, you need comprehensive Environmental Impact Studies. One can surmise a number of things from this very short extract: a) Truthfulness is not an issue for either Codelco nor the Ecua government. b) Ecuador’s government will not demand that Codelco does any kind of legitimate Environmental Impact Assessment. The mid 2013 start date for advanced exploration does not leave enough time to do a proper EIA in such a biodiverse and wet forest area, containing so many species of animals facing extinction. c) It looks like either the government will exonerate Codelco from doing a initial Environmental Impact Assessment, or they will accept the very poor initial EIA done for another mining site (Paraiso). This EIA was done by another concession owner, it was done for a concession about 10% the size of the new concession; encompassed different altitudes, had considerably less micro watersheds, different types of forests, and different social and cultural settings than the Llurimagua concession. For example, the Paraiso concession hardly had any primary cloud forests, and only had within in, 5 micro watersheds. By contrast, the Llurimagua concession- if as it appears on an official map- encompasses two of ex- Ascendant Copper concessions, which would make it nearly 10,000 hectares; has dozens, and perhaps over one hundred micro, small and medium watersheds, and has more communities within in and adjacent to it than the Paraiso concession. This is an area also rich in pre-Incan archeology sites. Keep in mind that the Paraiso EIA was so badly done, that it was an embarrassment. And this the document that Codelco will probably use in order to forgo doing the EIA for initial exploratory work. d) Conclusion: The Ecuadorian government will not be looking out for the well being of Intag’s communities or the environment, nor too worried about enforcing it’s own progressive Constitution, or basic laws protecting human rights. August 4th is the date set for the State owned mining company to meet with some communities in the Junin area. So, keep tuned The extract follows “MINING (The parts agreed to) in the field of mining, to further strengthen the cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experience. This, under the Interagency Cooperation Agreement on Mining Matters, signed on September 2008 and its amending protocol signed on August 2010 They agreed to further the facilitation of the Cooperation Agreement for Mineral Exploration agreed between the then Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of Ecuador and CODELCO, signed on June 5, 2009 which was ratified, as stated in the Convention itself, with the National Mining Company (ENAMI EP), with the signing of the Agreement for Mineral Exploration by CODELCO ENAMI EP on November 28, 2011 for the duration of four years, renewable in equal and successive periods if the parties so decide . In the framework of said agreements, CODELCO has undertaken prospecting and exploratory activities in approximately 20 prospects, and of which only one was selected (the Llurimagua prospect) for advanced exploration, and four for followup exploration. During 2012 the process to obtain the Environmental License and socialization with the authorities and communities began, so as to proceed with exploration work with drilling in the Llurimagua prospect, approximately, during the second semester of 2013. the complete Agreement is available here> http://www.scribd.com/doc/101334073
Read MoreCHILE: WHY CODELCO WILL ALSO FAIL IN INTAG in 2012, 2013, 2014,,,,,,
CHILE: WHY CODELCO WILL ALSO FAIL IN INTAG in 2012, 2013, 2014,,,,,, I posted the blog below in August of 2011 when Codelco was lying its way into the hearts of the residents of Paraiso, a community not too far away from Junin. Back then I predicted that the Paraiso mining concession, of only 800 […]
Read MoreCODELCO OFFICIALLY AFTER INTAG’S COPPER
This Bloomberg news just published confirms that CODELCO, jointly with the state-owned mining company, will try to exploit the copper at Junin. While we were expecting the news, to have it confirmed puts it in another scale of certainty. Seeing as how the communities were not been consulted over the possibility of starting up mining […]
Read MoreCODELCO OUT OF PARAISO; The Constitution and The Chinese Factor
CODELCO OUT OF PARAISO; JUNIN NEXT? THE CONSTITUTION AND THE CHINESE FACTOR The latest news is that Codelco, on Thursday, met with the Paraiso community and said they were abandoning the exploration plans in the area. This is the official news. The unofficial, from a reliable source, but not official by any means, is that […]
Read MoreLetter to Earth and other news
A reason to celebrate. A (very) quick summary of our work New publications Letter to Earth The reason to celebrate is not because the government has wised up and abandoned it’s greedy plans to exploit the copper lying under some of the world’s most biodiverse place here in Intag. That truly would be a reason […]
Read MoreThe Calm Before the Storm? April 14th Update
APRIL 14 UPDATE The Calm Before the Storm? CODELCO can’t possibly be serious Manduriacos communities unite A plea for high-school transportation funds The Calm Before the Storm? It got real quiet after CODELCO took its drills out of the Paraiso area. First rumors that circulated were that the drill results were disappointing and that […]
Read MoreOCCUPY QUITO: The March of the 22nd
Quito in Flood- March 22nd. Mining leading issue for marchers. (petición de 19 puntos de la marcha más adelante) In spite of the childish claim by government officials (including President Correa) that the march was a total failure; in spite of countless obstacles the marchers had to overcome to reach Quito, including police checks and […]
Read MoreAnti-mining in Ecuador: A National Issue
UPDATE Friday 16th : The Correa regime is running TV and huge billboard ads trying to dissuade people from taking part in the anti-mining march. The TV ads discredit the march and the leaders by implying that they are liars, and are taking advantage of the people. One billboard has the message: Those who destabilize are COWARDS. […]
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