Mining triggers tension in Ecuador

The clash between farming and mining is turning out to be a familiar one in many countries across the world, a variation of the conflict between agriculture and industry in other countries. Ecuador, which like many other Latin American countries, is caught in political turbulence and economic stress, is witnessing a conflict which extends to the issue of climate change, which is recognized as a global threat.

Ecuador has large deposits of copper and lithium, as well as gold and silver. The Ecuadorean government is keen to bring private mining companies from Canada, as also China, into the country to explore and exploit the resource. It is seen as a path to development, to create jobs, and to end the cycle of subsistence living that farming provides. Luis Martinez, a farmer from La Pampas, which has the copper and lithium deposits, states the issue from the local peoples’ point of view. The 47-year-old farmer told Middle Eastern news agency, Al Jazeera: “Our earth remains green every day of the year. It gives us fruits daily. Mining would endanger the source of income that sustained us for decades and decades.”

The area also produces high quality and raw cane sugar which are exported to Europe.

Atico Mining of Canada plans to invest $75.9 million in 2025, according to Ecuadorean central bank. The company also declares its commitment to environmental dimensions of development, to ensure potable water and also ensure that agriculture is improved. Birta Chiriboga, aged 63, and farmer is not convinced. She says, “We don’t believe them. We already had mining here, and the water was left polluted. Before micay (carpet grass) and sugarcane grew there. Nowadays, nothing springs up there.” It is a hard dilemma confronting the Ecuadoreans. According to National Institute of Statistics, 42.2 per cent of the Ecuadoreans live in rural areas, and 79.2 per cent of them work in the informal sector. Victor Toce, president of the local Council for water administration in Las Pampas, says, “Population is increasing in Palo Quemado and there are no jobs. If international investors come here, and provide our sons with an opportunity, it’s good to me.”

Mining Deputy Minister Andres Delgado said, “Mining does not represent the future of Ecuador, but it’s present. President Dainel Noboa attended the conference of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), th world’s largest mining convention. Noboa told representatives of the mining companies, “Mining attracted $4 billion investment, so I define its role as a crucial driver of the economy, benefitting the country through job creation, income for communities, local governments and the state.” Delgado also clarified: “We’re interested in attracting investments from committed private sectors and countries with social and environmental standards higher than here.” The government and the Canadian mining companies are anxious to maintain the balance. For Canada and other Western countries, Ecuador’s mining resources of rare mineral including lithium nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite and copper are necessary for the transition to green economy fired by electricity in place of fossil fuels. So, Ecuador is of strategic interest to the country as well as to the world. Ecuador’s resources of rare minerals makes it a stakeholder in the emerging green economy. The decisions to be made will be difficult as their impact on different sections of people in Ecuador will be different. It would be naïve to believe that there would be no losers in the bargain. But it should be possible to practice responsible mining where the disastrous impact of the earlier, reckless methods can be minimized. It should not be the case that people who are in power and mining companies with huge funds should not ride roughshod over weak and marginalized communities because the harm cause to the environment will affect the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless alike.