Communities occupy Bishimetals mining installations - demand an end to mining project

By Ivonne Ramos, Presidenta, Accion Ecologica
From South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC).
16 May, 1997

On Monday the 12th of May, fifty people from seven local communities, representing 225 local families, peacefully occupied the installations of the Japanese Mining Company Bishimetals and the state mining institution CODIGEM. The installations, which are part of a proposed mine, are located in the forest of Junin, in the South-West of the Province of Imbabura; the area forms part of the buffer zone for the Cotocachi-Cayapas reserve, and the internationally recognised Choco' region.

The reason for the occupation was the lack of consultation between Mitsubishi and CODIGEM, and the communities. The previous Saturday the President of CODIGEM (Corporacion de Desarrollo e investigacion Metalurgico-Minera) had been invited to talk about the proposed mine with community members in the village of Junin, but failed to show up. Up to the present time, neither CODIGEM nor Bishimetals has carried on any type of conversation or consultation with the local people, about the social or environmental desireability of mining in the area.

The Junin organisations are complaining that the Bishimetals project does not have their prior approval and is therefore being developed "outside the national mining law". The communities are demanding an immediate and definitive end to any exploration and possible exploitation of copper in the Junin region. They cite the impacts indicated in the project's Environmental Impact Statement such as:

• The displacement of 100 families from 4 communities.
• Deforestation and consequent desertification. More than 4,500 hectares of mainly virgin forest will be impacted.
• Soil erosion in over 1,300 hectares.
• Threats to more than 15 endangered species
• Increases in crime.

Accion Ecologica, with whom the communities are working, also opposes the project, not only because of its local impacts, but because of the impacts mining has at the national level. It is expected that the present drive to expand mining in Ecuador, initiated by the Ecuadorian Government, with the help, and prompting, of the World Bank, will:

• reduce capacity for food self sufficiency.
• severely affect the conservation of bio-diversity and protected areas.
• pollute important watersheds due to the geographical position of Ecuador at the headwaters of major river systsems such as the Amazon.

LETTERS OF SUPPORT TO SAVE THE COMMUNITIES AND FOREST OF JUNIN.

We are asking you to please send a letter of support for the position of the communities, asking for an end to the Junin project, to:

Dr. Raul Baca Carbo,
Ministro de Energia y Minas,
Santa Prisca 223/225,
Quito Ecuador.
Fax 593-2-502092

with a copy to:

The General Manager
Mitsubishi Materials Corp.
5-1 Ohtemachi 1 - Chome,
Chiyoda-ku, (box 184, Central PO),
Tokyo 100, Japan.
Fax: 3-5252-5270/1
Tel: 3-5252-5200/1

Sr. Marcos Lima Aravena
Presidente Ejecutivo
CODELCO Fx.en Chile,
Huerfanos 1270, Santiago de Chile
Fax: 56-2-690 3288

Ivonne Ramos,
Presidenta, Accion Ecologica,
118 Paez y Patria
Edificio Flacso 3er Piso,
Quito Ecuador.
Fax 593-2-543-344

BACKGROUND

In December of last year, the press announced the discovery of large deposits of copper and other minerals in Junin, situated in the Province of Imbabura, on the western flanks of the Ecuadorian Andes. The area has been under exploration for the past five years by the Japanese mining company Mitsubishi, together with the state mining company, CODIGEM (part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines). Apart from Bishimetals, the Chilean Trans-national mining company CODELCO has also recently expressed interest in investing in the proposed mine.

The Junin mining project is located in one of the world's most biologically diverse areas, the forests belonging to the zone known as the Choco', which Ecuador shares with Colombia. The area is also one of those most threatened by deforestation, Ecuador having only 12% of these unique forests remaining. According to local calculations, the Cordillera de Toisan, in which Junin is located, is home to dozens of threatened species, which will have their habitats severely affected if the roads for the extraction of the minerals are built.

The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) whose goal is to study the exisiting social and environmental conditions in the area, and to predict the probable impacts of the project has identified the following problems:

• Major deforestation. Forest loss which will lead to desertification, climate changes, and alterations in the vegatation of the area (p.130)
• Soil erosion.

  - Area of the open pit mine 200 hactares
  - Mine road 225 hectares
  - Tailings dam area 221 hectares
  - Waste dam area 664 hectares
  - Mining plant 41 hectares

• Impacts in the Cotocachi Cayapas reserve due to the fact that part of the mining area is located in the park's buffer zone.
• Relocation of 100 families. The operation of an open pit mine forsees the relocation of families from 4 communities (Junin, La Libertad, Cerro Pelado, y Barcelona).
• Impacts in primary forests. The EIS forsees impacts in more than 4,500 hectares, the major part of which are primary forests and areas of great geographical variation, which protect thousands more hectares of watershed.
• Flora and Fauna. Apart from the impacts to the primary forests themselves, the project will affect endangered species such as: the Oso Anteojos and the Gallo de Pea Andino, the Piquilaminado Tucan, the Yumbo, the Jaguar, the Ocelote, the Jaguarundi, the Spider Monkey, the Howler Monkey, and the Pacarana, amongst others.
• Pollution due to the metals found together with Copper such as: Lead, arsenic, and zinc. It is forseen that these metals will pollute the land, air and water of the area, and will enter the food chain, with impacts on both animals and humans.
• Increase in crime. This impact (p.132), will be caused by the increase in population as a direct consequence of the creation of a town, to be named Limon, which will have around 5,000 inhabitats. The vast majority of these new inhabitants will come from other areas of the country, and will create both social impacts and exert further pressure on the local ecosystems (i.e. deforestation, hunting, and use of other natural resources).

South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) P.O. Box 28703
Oakland CA, 94604
Phone: (510)834-4263 Fax: (510)834-4264
Email: saiic@igc.apc.org
Office: 1714 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor, Oakland

Home Page: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb/abyayala/orgs/saiic

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