Research sites
TCD Andes aims to study the territorial and social dynamics produced by the expansion of extractive industries and the implementation of a neoliberal model of development in three Andean countries: Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
In order to do this, several scales of analysis are combined: i) A local level where we expect to observe the particular economic, social, and political processes in deep; ii) A regional level, where we expect to bring elements that give account of the economic and territorial dynamics produced by large-scale investments in broader territories; iii) The national level that gives the bigger picture of the impact produced by those investment and, at the same time, of contextual factors that determine the political economy of regions and localities; and, iv) An international level where we aim to analyze the influence of international organisations from the civil society on the ways in which territory, conflicts and development strategies become connected.
The selected study sites combine both the regional and local levels, with some reference to particular mines and the conflicts originated by their presence:
| Peru | Bolivia | Ecuador | Colombia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral expansion | Cajamarca Piura |
Oruro | Cotacachi Morona Santiago Azuay |
|
| Oil/gas expansion | Camisea | Tarija | Morona Santiago | Magdalena Medio |
| Stagnant rural economy | Ayacucho | Chimborazo |
Cajamarca – Yanacocha (Peru)
The Yanacocha mine (MYSA) is located in the high Peruvian Andes some 35 Km. to the North of the city of Cajamarca in an area of traditionally peasant populations organized in communities. MYSA is Latin America’s largest gold mine and the world’s second largest. It is jointly owned by Newmont Mining Corporation, (a US based multinational with head offices in Denver, Colorado), the Peruvian Compañía de Minas Buenaventura and the International Finance Corporation.
MYSA has grown steadily since 1993 and now reaches across 10,000 ha of the Cajamarcan highlands. MYSA's land acquisition program triggered the first rumblings of discontent with the mine. Its desire to expand operations into an area that contains the main source of run water for Cajamarca city and the social change induced in the region meant the conflict became increasingly urban and environmental.
- Read more about Cajamarca (PDF, 71KB)
Piura – Rio Blanco (Peru)
The Rio Blanco site contains deposits of copper and molybdenum and is located in the high Andes and in primary cloud forest at the east of the Piura region (Northern Peru – border with Ecuador). Initially given in concession to Monterrico Metals plc. (a London based company), in 2007 it was sold to the Chinese consortium Zijiin Mining Group Ltd. The project would be executed on land that belongs to two campesino communities (Segunda Cajas and Yanta) mostly used for extensive pasturing and as a ‘reserve’ for community purposes. Reaction and mobilization against Minera Majaz started in the early period of the exploration process questioning the legality of the MEM’s resolutions allowing the occupation of community lands without prior permission.The citizen referendum held on September 16th 2007 to consult the local populations’ opinion about the project which resulted in 90% of rejection.
- Read more about Piura (PDF, 15KB)
Cotacachi
The canton Cotacachi is located in the North-West Ecuadorian Andes, some two hours' drive to the North of Quito, and covering both high altitude grassland (with a dominantly Quichua population) and humid tropical valleys (with a colonist and mestizo population). It includes the Intag sector where copper reserves were found in the 1980s. In the 1990s after a larger scale phase of exploration financed by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the project passed to Bishi Metals (a subsidiary company of Mitsubishi). Now the project is in concession to Ascendant Ecuador (a subsidiary of the Canadian Ascendant Copper Corporation based in Colorado). After more than 20 years of initiated the exploration phase, Intag is still an unachieved project in exploration.
- Read more about Cotacachi (PDF, 160KB)
South-east Ecuador: Zamorra Chinchipe and Morona Santiago
This study is located south east of the city of Cuenca towards the border with Peru in and around Gualaquiza, the largest town in the vicinity of two large scale mining projects. Gualaquiza is located on the border between Morona Santiago and Zamorra Chinchipe provinces. The mining projects that are being contested are owned by two companies: one, Corriente Resources whose projects are located north east (Panantza and San Carlos) and south east of Gualaquiza (Mirador), and Aurelian Resources which owns the Fruta del Norte project (that is being taken over by another Canadian company -Kinross Resources) is also located south east of Gualaquiza, further south of the Mirador project and right on the border of with Peru in the Condor Mountain Range. These are humid tropical lowland areas, home to indigenous populations and colonists from other parts of Ecuador,
While there has been some history of mining in the area, and there is currently artisanal and small scale mining activity, these projects would be the first large-scale mines and would mark a significant transformation of the regional political economy, society and landscape. Each project is currently at a very advanced exploration phase and ready to be converted into mines. This conversion process has stalled for various reasons including: high levels of conflict around mining in the South and Southeast of Ecuador; the Constituent Assembly process and the related initiative to redraft mining legislation and put mining projects on hold during most of 2008; and government rejection of certain project preparation documents.
Conflicts and mobilization processes in this region are quite closely linked to those in the neighbouring highland provinces of Azuay, Cañar and Loja. Azuay is site of a parallel study.- Read more about South-east Ecuador (PDF, 94KB)
Azuay: a site for mining expansion in Ecuador’s South
The Province of Azuay is part of a cluster of six provinces in Ecuador’s south and central south slated for major metal mining development. Based upon figures from September 2006, about 13% of the surface area or 114,056.4 hectares of the Province of Azuay is found within mineral concessions. At least thirteen transnational mining companies listed on Canadian stock exchanges are carrying out exploration activities in the province with gold, silver and other metal mining projects in various stages of development. They are almost entirely junior companies.
Concessions are particularly prominent within areas of high wetlands or páramo which cover 26% of the surface area of the province. These areas are important sources of water for agriculture and human consumption both within the province as well as for populations living and farming in the Province of Guayas on the coast. The water flow from Azuay’s highlands also generates the bulk of hydroelectric power for the country.
- Read more about Azuay (PDF, 127KB)
Oruro – Inti Raymi (Bolivia)
The Inti Raymi gold mine (EMIRSA) is located in the Bolivian Altiplano at 200 kilometers southeast of La Paz and 45 kilometers northwest of Oruro. Kori chaca, the second site, is located 5 kilometers west of Oruro. EMIRSA is jointly owned by Newmont Mining Corporation (based in Colorado, USA) and the Bolivian company Beatriz Rocabado. It has two sites: Kori Kollo and Kori Chaca. Out of the 70,000 hectares that the company holds in mining rights at Kori Kollo, it has explored and mined 7,000 hectares. Kori Kollo, the initial site, is a mature mine where the mill closed in October 2003 after 20 years of operation. Afterwards, EMIRSA resumed mining of low-grade ore from the heap leach pad in 2004 and began open-pit mining of the Llallagua pit in 2005.
The environmental audit to Kori Kollo was decided after the Bolivian Government received in 2003 complaints from population located in the lower watershed of the Desaguadero river and in the neighbouring areas of the Uru-Uru and Poopó lakes. In their claims the communities manifest their concerns about the environmental damages that EMIRSA would have produced and demand government’s intervention to ensure compensation. After three years of initiated the process to making effective the environmental audit, it has not been initiated yet.
- Read more about Oruro (PDF, 25KB)
Tarija (Bolivia)
The Department of Tarija lies in southeast Bolivia bordering with Argentina and Paraguay. Covering an area of 37,623km2 and with a primarily mestizo population of approximately 400000, the Department is home to over 20 indigenous groups (with the Guarani being most numerous) and a growing number of migrants from the highlands. Tarija has long occupied a marginal position in Bolivia's economy and politics. However, the discovery of vast natural gas resources in the region in the late 1990s, considered to be South America's second largest gas field, is rapidly transforming the region.
The Asamblea Pueblo Guaraní - Itika Guasu (APG-Itika Guasu) is the representative organization of Guaraní peoples in this region and recently has become involved in conflicts about extractive activities taking place within their lands. Accumulating social and environmental impacts have led to a series of long-running but sporadic disputes with REPSOL. These conflicts over the environmental and cultural consequences of gas extraction must, however, also be placed in a broader context, one in which Tarija may – after decades of marginality within Bolivia - become not only a national growth hub, but also a hub within continental systems of gas extraction, processing and distribution.
- Read more about Tarija (PDF, 14KB)
Magdalena Medio (Colombia)
In this case, Jorge Castro (PhD) addresses the territorial conflicts that The Middle Magdalena Development and Peace Program ( PDPMM) faces in order to intervene in the region. Magdalena Medio is a region located in the North West of Colombia where 29 municipalities are administered by four different departments (Santander, Cesar, Bolívar and Antioquia). The majority of these municipalities are rural, with the exception of two urban centres (Barrancabermeja and Aguachica), and in its 30000 square kilometers the region hosts to approximately 850000 people, many of them living in poverty. This area is geo-strategically important for two main reasons: it is the axis of roads uniting Bogotá (Colombia's capital city) with the Caribbean coast and Venezuela; it also is ECOPETRIOL’s home base (the national oil company), a refinery where most of Colombia's oil is processed.