Ecuador mining referendum to be held same day as general elections

Ecuador’s electoral commission (CNE) plans to hold the referendum sought by environmental groups looking to stop metallic mining northwest of Quito in the Chocó Andino area on August 20.

On the same day, Ecuadorans will also vote for the country’s next president and vice president and all 137 legislators, as well as on whether to keep the oil from block 43 (ITT) in the ground.

“The two referendums, both the ITT one and the mining one, will be held together with the elections,” CNE president Diana Atamaint told BNamericas in a telephone interview.

President Guillermo Lasso invoked a constitutional article on May 17 to dissolve the national assembly, call early elections and rule by decree in the meantime.

The presidential and legislative elections have already been confirmed, while the two referendums will be made official in the coming days, Atamaint said.

The official added that in the case of the mining consultation, the CNE is waiting for the municipality of Quito to determine the areas in which the vote will take place, "which should be in the next few days."

Chocó Andino is an area rich in biodiversity that UNESCO declared a biosphere reserve in 2018.

There are around 12 copper, gold and silver mining concessions in the region, in early stages of exploration.

In the referendum, voters will be asked if they agree to ban metallic mining in the Nono, Calacalí, Nanegal, Nanegalito, Gualea and Pacto areas.

According to data provided by the Ecuadoran chamber of mines, the only large-scale mining concession in the area is not within the Chocó zone but rather in a transition area, and 5% of the concession is located in the buffer zone, where it is allowed to carry out mining since there are no forests but rather agricultural production.

In another consultation held in February 2021 in Cuenca, in the south of the country, residents voted to prohibit mining near water sources or water recharge areas. 

Photo credit: Colectivo Quito Sin Minería