Ecuador’s constitutional court allows referendums on new mining projects

Ecuador’s highest court has ruled that communities have the right to hold referendums on whether or not proposed large and medium-scale mines can move forward, but said the public can only vote on mining rights not yet granted and not on licenced projects. The constitutional court’s decision follows a petition by the government of Cuenca, a city in the country’s highlands, to propose questions to a referendum seeking to ban mining near water sources. It represents a victory for Cuenca, in the southern province of Azuay, which hosts several projects, including SolGold’s (TSX: SOLG; LSE: SOLG) Sharug project and INV Metals’ (TSXV: INV) Loma Larga gold-silver-copper project.