Dynasty Metals & Mining received Ecuador President Raphael Correa and senior members of his cabinet at its Zaruma gold project over the past weekend. The President spent several hours meeting with Dynasty senior staff and community leaders. In a public address, his comments in favour of environmentally and socially responsible mining and its importance to the local economies of Portovello, Zaruma and several neighbouring towns were welcomed by a large crowd of supporters.
Company President, Robert Washer, provided a lengthy tour of the company’s plant construction and mine development sites after which time he commented: “We wish to thank the President, the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, the Under Secretary of Mining, the Minister of Environment and the Under Secretary of Environment for allowing us the opportunity to meet with them on our project site so that they could witness the progress we have made and the community support we receive for our sustainable development plans.”
The company, together with other mining companies, is meeting with ministry officials this week to continue discussions regarding the formulation of new mining laws. It continues to employ its workforce and work closely with the government. Dynasty Metals & Mining has two advanced-stage projects, Zaruma and Jerusalem, as well as a highly prospective exploration project, the Dynasty Copper-Gold Belt, which includes the Dynasty Goldfield.
On April 24 eight mining companies (Aurelian Resources, Cornerstone Capital Resources, Corriente Resources, Dynasty Metals & Mining, Ecometals, IAMGOLD, International Minerals and Salazar Resources) collectively met with President Correa and other top officials in Quito to discuss the future of mining in Ecuador and the impact of the previously announced Mining Mandate.
The companies welcomed President Correa’s repeated statements that responsible mining will go ahead in Ecuador. He said that the purpose of the Mining Mandate was to allow the government to get its house in order and new mining law in place so that responsible mining can proceed. The President invited the mining companies to meet with the ministry to help formulate the new mining law starting today, April 28.
Present from the government were President Rafael Correa; Dr Galo Chiriboga, Minister of Mines and Petroleum; Dr Jose Serrano, Deputy Secretary of Mines; Dr Agustin Paladines, Mining Advisor to the President; Fernando Alvarado, Advisor to the President; Ricardo Patiño, Minister of Politics; and Dr Ramon Torres, Business Advisor to the President. The Canadian Ambassador to Ecuador, Christian LaPointe, accompanied the companies and presented concerns of the Canadian government for a fair, stable and long-term investment environment in Ecuador.