From a few days ago7 Apr 2024 08:16
The Cascabel project, located in the province of Imbabura, which is in the advanced exploration phase, has begun dialogues with authorities in the area to publicize the project. Thus, this week the mayor of the Ibarra canton, Álvaro Castillo, held a meeting with Luis Mario Sánchez, vice president of the SolGold company and his technical team.
According to a statement from said Municipality, the meetings aimed to “articulate actions to carry out projects that, through royalties, allow the local economy to be energized, with the creation of sources of employment for the population located in the area. of influence, in this way it will be guaranteed to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the Ibarra canton.”
These days there has been a very conflictive process in the Palo Quemado and Las Pampas sectors, which are located in the Sigchos canton of Cotopaxi, due to a mining consultation issue regarding the La Plata project. This Ibarra project is in another more advanced phase.
María Isabel Ayllón, a lawyer who is an expert in mining issues, explains what stage Cascabel is in and when it is time for citizens to consult:
This large-scale mining project is currently in an economic evaluation stage, to verify the technical and economic viability of the project.
This will lead you to establish a proposal to sign an exploitation contract with the State. It will be at that time that an environmental consultation process must be carried out in the area to obtain the environmental license.
According to Ayllón, the law is clear in indicating that environmental consultations are carried out when projects begin or when the phase is going to change. In this case, the new consultation corresponds due to the change in phase, since it would move to exploitation, which means the construction of the mine. Construction can take about five years.
The project already went through a first consultation or citizen participation process before 2008. She also explains that since it is an area where there is no indigenous population, the figure that must be applied is environmental consultation. Prior, free and informed consultation is applied when it comes to sectors inhabited mostly by indigenous people.
For its part, Cascabel confirmed a few weeks ago that the company SolGold, which is carrying out the project, will require an environmental impact study (EIA) that will be aligned with the best international practices applicable to the mining sector. “We are deeply committed to managing our carbon footprint and to the efficiency of renewable natural resources,” highlights Scott Caldwell, CEO of SolGold and president of SolGold Ecuador.
He also pointed out that innovative proposals will be integrated to care for the environment, and a diversification plan for renewable energy sources for the project, to be supplied by both the public sector and private enterprises.