Noboa seeks to tackle illegal mining by declaring areas to be of 'national interest'

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa hopes the constitutional court will approve 20 questions for a referendum that he plans to carry out this year, with one question designed to help his strategy against illegal mining.

Last week, Noboa sent the court nine additional questions following the 11 he had previously sent.

There is still no date for the binding vote, as it will depend on when the court rules on the constitutionality of the questions. However, local analysts believe that it could take place at the end of March or early April.

Among the additional questions are ones related to allowing the extradition of Ecuadorans, stripping criminals of their assets of illicit origin, reforms to contracting, and declaring areas of “national interest” to combat illegal mining.

Issues such as extradition and confiscating criminals' ill-gotten gains were requested by various sectors.

To combat illegal mining, Ecuadorans will be asked if they agree with declaring certain areas as territories of national interest, to evaluate “only once, the need to revoke mining concessions.”

The measure seeks to guarantee the correct use of mineral resources and combat organized crime.

According to magazine Plan V, illegal mining generates around US$1bn/y.

In 2020, the mining development plan identified 21 areas with the presence of illegal mining in the country, although the document justifying the questions mentions four. 

However, there have been no effective measures to combat the activity, which focuses on gold.

The document sent to the court states that, in several cases, illegal mining takes place on mining concessions, for example, in Napo province, where 76 small miners’ rights have been suspended.

“There are several cases of mining rights suspended due to the illicit extraction of resources within mining concessions, which can happen with the agreement of landowners. Illicit mining by or in complicity with the owners of the properties occurs in order to avoid administrative procedures,” it says.

Mining without authorization within a concession can be an administrative issue and not necessarily a criminal one, which requires priority attention from the State, it adds.

Former mining undersecretary Fernando Benalcázar told BNamericas the government should create a special body to tackle illegal mining because if the country continues to act with the same entities that have not been able to confront the problem, illegal mining will keep expanding.

“If we are going to continue along the same lines, there will be no change with the areas of national interest because underlying issues, such as corruption, are not faced up to. If something radical is not done, the question in the consultation will be no more than a question,” says Benalcázar.

The former official adds that banning activities that are carried out properly will contribute to generating more crime, uncertainty and political instability.