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Lawsuit

Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition and others lawsuit (re Curipamba-El Domo mine, Ecuador)

Status: CLOSED

Date lawsuit was filed
5 Jun 2024
Date accuracy
All Correct
အမည်မသိ
NGO, Community, Human Rights Defender
Location of Filing: Ecuador
Location of Incident: Ecuador
Type of Litigation: Domestic

Companies

Silvercorp USA United States of America Military/defence, Security companies
Salazar Resources Canada Mining, Natural Resources: General
Adventus Mining Corporation Ecuador Natural Resources: General, Mining

Against other:

Government

Sources

The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition of Ecuador (MAATE) issued an environmental licence for the Curipamba – El Domo gold and copper mine project, led by Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd., on 19 January 2024. On 12 June 2024, an Ecuadorian NGO filed a legal action to revoke the licence, alleging non-compliance with consultation requirements. The NGO argues that rural communities in Buenos Aires and Bellavista were excluded from the Environmental Consultation, which MAATE claims were outside the mine's area of influence. The case is ongoing.

On 15 December 2023, Ecuador's Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE) completed an environmental consultation.

On 19 January 2024, the Curipamba – El Domo gold and copper mine project obtained the environmental licence for the mine's construction and operation.

On 5 June 2024, a group of locals and an Ecuadorian NGO filed a constitutional protective action against MAATE and the Attorney General’s office, also mentioning as interested third party Adventus Mining Corporation's Ecuadorian subsidiary, Curimining S.A. This legal action seeks to void the environmental licence alleging non-compliance with the environmental consultation process as these rural communities were not included because they are considered to be outside the area of influence of the mine concession.

On June 12, 2024, the Court - Judicial Unit of the Canton of Las Naves in Bolívar received the constitutional protective action for review.

On 24 July 2024, the Court ruled to reject the protective action, concluding that MAATE complied with legal requirements in the consultation process. The plaintiffs who filed the protective action informed the Court of their intent to appeal the decision to Provincial Court of Justice of Bolívar.

On 12 November 2024, The Provincial Court of Justice of Bolívar dismissed the appeal filed by the plaintiffs and affirmed that MAATE correctly fulfilled its environmental consultation obligations, allowing the continuation of construction for the El Domo-Curipamba copper-gold project.

On 19 December 2024, the NFO filed an Extraordinary Protection Action before the Constitutional Court. On 26 February 2025, the Court declared the recourse inadmissible. On 3 March 2025, the plaintiffs filed a motion for clarification, which was unanimously rejected on 24 July 2025.

The case is closed.

Timeline