Ecuador Mining News by Silvia Santacruz

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Ecuador Mining Spared from Unrest, Risks Seen Reuters, Sept. 30th

Risks to Ecuador Oil, Mining Sectors Amid Unrest Reuters, Sept. 30th

Dynasty Completes Additional Shipment of Gold from Ecuador Sept. 30th

Corriente Drops After Ecuador Cuts China Talks Bloomberg, 03/23

Salazar’s Corporate Update 03/04

Dynasty Metals Joins Over the Counter Market 03/03

Ecometals Delays in Condor Gold Project Sale 03/03

IAMGOLD 4Q09 Report 02/17

International Minerals’ Metallic Ventures Gold Acquisition 02/26

Corriente’s Chinese Takeover Offers C$8.60 per Share 02/02

Kinross Gold Reserves Increase to 51 Million Ounces 01/28

Ecuador’s Correa Faces Off With Indigenous and Social Movements 01/28

Ecuador Minister Resigns Over Amazon Oil Project 01/15

Ecuador Appoints Jose Cisneros Manager Of State Mining Company 01/15

Ecometals to Sell Condor Project for $9 million to Alca Gold 01/12

Andes Gold to Begin Tailings Operations 01/07

A Chinese Firm to Acquire Corriente Resources 12/28

Canadian Miners Surge After Chinese Bid for Corriente Financial Post, 12/29/09

Ecometals Announces Drilling to Start at Rio Zarza Gold Project Dec. 1st

Dynasty Comments on Ecuadorian Mining Regulations Nov. 30^th

Northen Miner Features Ecuador’s Mining Scenario in a Video Nov. 26

Salazar Announces Private Placement Nov. 23

International Minerals to

Acquire Ventura Gold Nov. 18^th

AndeanGold Reports Phase 1 Drill Results on Rio Seco Project, Peru Nov. 17

International Minerals Reports Financial Results for 1Q Nov. 16^th

Trilliant Exploration Raises Additional Funds for Gold Mining Operations Nov. 9^th

Ecuador Authorizes Corriente To Restart Works On Mirador Dow Jones, Nov. 10

Kinross Receives Authorization to Re-Commence Advanced Exploration at FDN Nov. 10

Dynasty Grants Incentive Stock Options Nov. 6th

Correa Signs the Regulation for the Mining Law Expreso, Nov. 5

Ecuador Says Could Start Mineral Exports in 2012 Reuters, Nov. 4

Indigenous Groups Threaten More Radical Dow Jones, Oct. 1

Dynasty Metals' Zaruma Pours First Modern Ecuadorian Gold Mineweb, Sept. 29

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Q&A with Jaime Jarrín Jurado, PhD

Dean of Engineering Geology, Mining, Petroleum and Environmental Faculty at Ecuador’s Central University

Photo Caption: Silvia interviews Jaime Jarrin, PhD in Quito, Ecuador, discussing anti-mining activists, the Water Code, and his new leadership.

By Silvia Santacruz

New York, July 29, 2010

During your short tenure as Dean, you have actively participated in the nation’s debate on mining, taking on an unprecedented leadership role at the Central University. Why did you decide to join the debate?

Historically, our faculty had remained aloof from public opinion and disconnected from the both the public and private sectors. I never agreed with that policy, I set out to change that approach soon after I took this office—only three months ago. I believe we need to defend the mining industry because it affects us directly. I am convinced that mining can drive our country’s development much as oil has done. It was the mining industry that made a huge difference in the economic and infrastructure damage suffered in Chile compared to that in Haiti following the devastating earthquakes in each country.

However, oil revenues have only benefited the central government while the oil-rich Amazon continues impoverished. Why would mining be different?

Oil revenues have been mismanaged. It is inconceivable that we should have schools filled with children with bellies bloated due to parasites lying next to oil wells, from where the oil travels through pipelines to feed the bureaucracy. For that reason, the new Constitution and Mining Law guarantees local reinvestment from industry revenues. Additionally, mining companies are aware that without this social license, their projects could fail.

The Water Code debate is still ongoing. Have you discuss this issue with the anti-mining activists?

Yes. A few weeks ago I met with the indigenous leader Humberto Cholango, president of the Kichwa Ecuarunari Confederation. Indigenous groups are the most visible anti-mining force in Ecuador. Their main argument is that mineral extraction will compromise the nation’s water resources. I explained to him that mining only consumes 1.5 percent of the water other industries use. But mining has been politicized. If they [the government] would allow us, the technical experts, to reach an agreement we would have done so months ago.

If so, what specific industries consume more water than mining?

For example, the dairy and rice industries consume more water than mining. While the extraction of a kilogram of copper requires 244 liters of recyclable water, producing a liter of milk requires 800 liters and a kilo of rice 2,000 liters. The mining debate needs to be more honest and free from misinformation. There are other sources of pollution which mining opponents fail to mention, such as cemeteries. Some mass graves flow directly into aquifers that feed wells. A dead body weighing between 50 and 70 kilos is a source of considerable pollution. In Atuntaqui [Imbabura province, in northern Ecuador] vegetables grow irrigated by sewage.

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