“Solaris Resources’ Stock Price Plummets While Indigenous Resistance Mounts Online and on the Ground” – July 23, 2024

… Solaris Resources hit its lowest stock price this week at CAD 3.31 (US $2.41), as Indigenous organizations once again initiated multiple actions to reject its flagship copper-gold Warintza project in Ecuador. This price drop occurs amid increasing distrust by investors that the company’s management can live up to its promises.

The Warintza project, repeatedly touted as a “world class site,” is owned by small-cap investors and management, with almost 40% owned by its board chairman, Canadian billionaire and businessman Richard Warke. Solaris promotes the “implementation” of its “Warintza model” as the standard for cultivating community relationships. However, Solaris has repeatedly failed to disclose strong opposition from the Indigenous Shuar Arutam Peoples (PSHA) since it acquired Lowell Minerals Exploration and its Warintza project in 2018.

At the end of 2021, investor optimism almost hit 17.00 CAD (US $12.35) per share. Since then, stock prices have failed to reach these same highs, and even dropped to all-time lows early this week, influenced by a series of setbacks over recent months. One of these setbacks includes the termination of Solaris’ deal with one of the biggest mining companies in the world, Zijin Mining as it faced regulatory challenges in Canada. This deal would have injected CAD 130 million (US $94.5 million) to be used to further the advancement of the project and may have set the stage for Zijin’s complete acquisition of Warintza.

Solaris’ plans have also contributed to increased tensions and conflicts within Indigenous organizations. Just this week, the police intervened irregularly to evict the current governance council of the Interprovincial Shuar Federation (FICSH) from its headquarters, reportedly without any legal basis to do so.

The FICSH council is presided by historical Shuar leader Domingo Ankuash, who is known for his opposition to extractive projects and was elected to replace a the last president after he made unauthorized agreements with Solaris…