Mine opponents burn down Canadian firm's offices

Mine opponents burn down Canadian firm's offices

Ecuadoran communities oppose Ascendant's planned copper mine in ecological reserve

Kelly Patterson, The Ottawa Citizen

14th December 2005

Opponents of a controversial Canadian mining project in Ecuador have stormed one of the company's buildings, burning it to the ground.

Gary Davis, CEO of Ascendant Copper Corp., said yesterday three employees at its beleaguered Junin project were "roughed up" in Saturday's attack, although there were no serious injuries.

In 1997, Ascendant's predecessor, Mitsubishi Corp., was driven out of the area -- the site of an ecological reserve -- after citizens razed its mining camp to the ground.

"The company is outraged by this assault," said Mr. Davis, vowing to rebuild the facility, which housed a medical clinic and community development program. He also said the building was looted.

However, the project's critics strongly deny anyone was hurt, and say mine staff were allowed to remove valuables from the site before it was razed.

They say the attack was provoked by an aggressive campaign by the firm to overcome opposition.

"We do not condone violence," said Carlos Zorrilla, spokesman for the area environmental group DECOIN, in a phone interview from Ecuador.

But "the community has just reached the boiling point," he said.

He said that for months, mining opponents had received death threats from members of the company-funded community association, CODEGAM.

After a formal complaint was made to the Canadian government, Mr. Davis replaced his community relations staff and warned supporters not to resort to intimidation.

"We are working hard with the community to gain a social licence," he said yesterday, pointing out that the company has done many development projects in the area, such as building bridges and supplying computers to schools.

"This attack was perpetrated by a very small percentage of the population," he said, pointing out that some area communities have already asked the firm to rebuild the clinic.

He said the attack will not affect Ascendant's plans to develop the project in Junin, which holds one of the largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum deposits in the world.

Junin is also one of the world's 34 "biodiversity hot-spots" -- sites that support nearly 60 per cent of the world's plant and animal species, according to the environmental watchdog Conservation International.

Mr. Zorrilla said opposition to a large-scale, open-pit mine in the area is widespread.

The decision to attack the mine's facility came at a meeting of the Community Development Council, attended by about 300 residents from 15 communities in the mining-concession area, said Mr. Zorrilla, who did not participate in the meeting or the attack, but interviewed members of the council yesterday.

"This meeting included the presidents of those communities, and everyone at the meeting voted in a democratic process to send the company a message," Mr. Zorrilla said.

He said the mayor of the county directly affected by Ascendant's project is also vehemently opposed to the mine.

He said the protest was sparked by a recent land buying campaign by Ascendant, which has pitted mine opponents against those eager to accept the mine's offer, even if it means selling off land earmarked as part of the ecological reserve.

"It's very sad; this has led to a lot of conflict, even conflict within families," Mr. Zorrilla noted.

Mr. Davis said many of people are keen to sell their land to the company.

"The turnout is remarkable. We own more than 1,000 hectares of land already. We're giving fair market value for land that is potentially valuable to us.

"If people find that offensive, I'm sorry."

Ascendant is registered in British Columbia. Its head office is in Denver, Colorado.