[Translation provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Chinese Mining Company Junefield Sues Ecuador in Arbitration Amid Allegations" - 10 October 2022

Hong Kong-based Chinese mining company Junefield Gold Investments Limited has filed an investment arbitration against Ecuador before an ad hoc tribunal for the stoppage and suspension of its environmental permit, due to pressure from activists, over the mining project led by its wholly owned Ecuagoldmining at the Rio Blanco mine that a local court ordered in response to demands from affected communities that they were not consulted... In 2020, Ecuagoldmining notified the Government of Ecuador of its intention to go to arbitration if a solution was not reached in the face of the inability to be unable to work in the area, due to pressure from anti-mining groups and a suspension by court order... In the notification, it claimed 480 million from Ecuador alleging it has seen its work come to a standstill due to the inability to access the work area where it was operating to build an underground access for gold and silver extraction... The mining company has for years denounced the incursion of violent groups into its facilities. In an October 2019 communiqué, published on its Facebook page, it warned of the assault on its facilities by "opponents of the responsible mining industry" and called on the authorities to act with "the full force of the law" to demonstrate that "legal security for investors" does exist in Ecuador... On the other hand, Indigenous communities defending natural resources have been fighting for years for the closure of the mine. Without going any further, just six days ago the Latin American Network of Women Defenders released a statement on Facebook, from the women's group for the defence of the Amazon Acción Ecológica, in which they denounce "the armed attack on the house of Mónica Guarango, defender of water and nature in Río Blanco, a violent act due to the effects of illegal mining"... In the publication they demand "that the authorities act URGENTLY to close the Ecuagoldmining SA mine, suspended in 2018". In the document they explain that illegal mining activity is a fact and denounce that "these types of attacks are a incitement to intimidate them and make them back down in their process of resistance and thus make mining in the Rio Blanco community where the company Ecuagoldmining South America SA is located. This corporation was suspended by a court order since 2018, due to a lawsuit by the communities for violation of human rights and nature, and illegal operation because the consultation of the affected communities was not carried out."

In February 2021, the city of Cuenca held an official referendum to see if the population agreed to conduct mining in the area, which includes the Rio Blanco project, and 80% (350,000 people) voted no.