(Alliance News) - SolGold PLC on Tuesday said its operations "remain unaffected" by protests in Ecuador, noting the agreement reached between the country's government and indigenous groups.
The protests stemmed from the Ecuadorian government's decision on October 1 to remove fuel subsidies in order to comply with International Monetary Fund standards. The government has agreed to restore fuel subsidies immediately.
SolGold said: "The agreement to repeal the subsidy cuts has come with a commitment for the government and indigenous groups to create a commission to develop new measures to cut government costs, stop abuse of fuel subsidies and reduce the country's budget deficit."
The miner is of the belief that its "projects will contribute strongly to sustainable economic growth employment". These include its Cascabel project, as well as 12 other projects in the Ecuador.
Further, SolGold also said that its "operations remain unaffected by the protests", and the firm is still expecting to produce a third mineral resource estimate for the Alpala deposit in the fourth quarter of 2019, followed by a pre-feasibility study in the first quarter of 2020.
The company claims it still has "full and objective support from the Ecuadorean government".
"The Cascabel project is located away from any protected areas and away from any indigenous ancestral areas. The project is strongly supported by regional and local communities and the future of Cascabel was recently strongly endorsed by these local communities and government in public hearings at the Constitutional Court at which the legitimacy of the mining industry in Ecuador was firmly upheld," said SolGold.
Shares in SolGold were up 1.3% at 18.70 pence per share in London on Tuesday morning.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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SolGold (SOLG)