"Adventus wins permit challenge, but Silvercorp deal still in jeopardy", 25 July 2024.

Copper-gold developer Adventus Mining received a significant boost on Thursday after a lawsuit challenging the environmental license issued to its flagship El Domo-Curipamba project in Ecuador was knocked back in court.

In early June, a protective action was filed against both the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition of Ecuador (MAATE) and the office of the Attorney General of Ecuador, while also naming Adventus’ Ecuadorian subsidiary as an interested third party in the suit.

The lawsuit specifically raised procedural allegations about the sufficiency of the consultative process followed by MAATE in issuing the permits. A successful challenge would effectively see Adventus’ environmental permit revoked.

However, during this week’s court proceedings, it was ruled that this consultative process complied with application legal requirements in Ecuador.

According to Adventus, as the legal action did not raise any allegations about the substance of the El Domo-Curipamba environmental permit itself, the company was allowed to continue construction on the project while the lawsuit was outstanding.

Meanwhile, the group of locals who filed the action is expected to appeal the decision, which the company estimated could take an additional three to six months...