"Key Victory for Water Defenders in Southern Ecuador Against Canadian Mining", 14 July 2022

...Water defenders just won an important battle in Cuenca, Southern Ecuador, against metal mining in the Kimsakocha páramos, where Canadian company Dundee Precious Metals is attempting to develop its Loma Larga gold-arsenic mine.

On Tuesday, a local judge granted Protective Measures to the Kimsakocha páramos and suspended all mining activities on the grounds that the Ecuadorian State and company failed to consult with affected communities. The application for Protective Measures  was filed in February 2022 by the Federation of Campesino and Indigenous Organizations of Azuay (FOA in Spanish) and the Community Water Systems of Tarqui, Victoria del Portete and Girón against the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition.

Dundee Precious Metals is now attempting to minimize the importance of the decision by saying that the company “had already planned the consultation process prior to proceeding to the exploitation phase”...

Besides not being consulted, communities also argued in the judicial action that mining activity in these high-altitude wetlands would violate their right to water, given the ecosystem’s importance as a water source and natural hydrological system...