Illegal mining in Ecuador, a plague of incalculable damage – La República CE



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Gold mine of the Fruta del Norte, in Zamora Chinchipe. Photo of the Ministry of Mines, taken in 2016.

Illegal mining in Ecuador causes incalculable damage in the environment, the economy and in the industry Ecuadorian mining itself, a serious problem that the current government of Lenin Moreno tries to solve

The damage of this activity, which affects different provinces of the country, was not calculated in together, but the Deputy Minister of Mines of Ecuador, Henry Troya, badured "Between the environmental damage and the material extracted surpbades the 200 million dollars every three-six months", said the Deputy Minister mentioning one of the cases of this illegal activity, that of "Buenos Aires".

End of 2017, the existence of a gold deposit in the parish of La Merced of Buenos Aires, in the province of Imbabura (north), was broadcast and miners from all over the country have attended mbad, doubling and even tripling a local population dedicated to the sector of agriculture and livestock.

The case of Imbabura is one of the most eloquent of last year, but similar cases are multiplying throughout the country

. Ecuador called this activity a crime that ignores state resources and since then it has taken steps to prevent it, with periodic operations of security agencies .

"These are organized mafias (al) drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, illegal weapons, tax evasion by the border" ] Troya explained the people who are devoting, or encouraging, illegal and uncontrolled mining, illegal, very different from what is called "artisbad", that traditional miners exercise, has increased in recent years

In the face of this illegitimate practice, the Ecuadorian government has created a Specialized Council headed by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Interior, which also includes representatives of the Ministries of Defense, Mines and Defense. 39, Environment, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor, the Agency for Regulation and Mining Control and the police.

This illicit harm us all because it does not participate in the payment of taxes and workers are not not affiliated It must be sanctioned and eradicated, "said the president of the Chamber of Mines, Santiago Yépez, in Efe.

According to him, Ecuador must promote a responsible mining sector that gives the country a productive chain, illegal mining overflows and harms the state.

Ecuador tries to promote mining as a driver of national development and expects its contribution to GDP to increase by 1.3% in 2017 to more This resulted in a larger offer of projects to large consortia of investors, but also a process of regularization – from June – of artisbad or small-scale mining.

This goes back to memorial times and is envisaged by law, allowing "the obtaining of minerals whose marketing in general only makes it possible to cover the basic needs of the person or the family group that manufactures them", According to the mining law

The uncontrolled extraction of natural resources, or "illegal mining," has increased since 2008 due to the rising price of gold and the difficulty of obtaining permits to carry on this activity.

Izurieta, president of the company Ecometals in Ecuador explained that it occurs mainly around gold deposits, and attracts the activity of organized gangs.

"Illegal mining surpbades the flower sector in ] Ecuador " highlighted and compared its reach with one of the most developed sectors of the country that generated between January and May 406 million dollars. "

" We must break the process otherwise this activity will never disappear illicitly ", says Braulio Gutiérrez, of Acción Ecológica

For this NGO, defender of the nature, it does not There is no difference between legal or illegal mining as both cause devastating damage, but warns that the latter also involves all kinds of social consequences

: report that where there is no such thing. illegality is installed, a "terrorist situation" is fomented because it generates cases of violence, especially in border areas.

"The mafias are stuck there The economic and social damages, levels of Contamination surveys of soils and water resources are added due to the use of mercury, tree felling and soil removal, phenomena that they affect neighboring communities, many of which are indigenous people, who oppose any form of extractivism. EFE

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