A joint copper mining project by Ecuador's state-run ENAMI and Chile's Codelco has been told to suspend operations, after a court ruled the government failed to give local communities a right to environmental consultation, the communities' lawyers and Codelco said.
The Imbabura provincial court said a 2014 environmental license and other permissions given for the Llurimagua project, which is in the advanced exploration phase, do not comply with proper parameters, according to the lawyers.
The project is located in a highly biodiverse province.
"What the ruling determines is that all mining activity in the area is halted until the standards defined by the constitutional court are complied with," lawyer Carlos Varela, who represents the communities, said on Wednesday. "We understand the companies which benefit from the license and the concession must stop their activities."
ENAMI had no immediate comment and directed inquiries to the energy ministry. Neither the energy nor environmental ministries offered immediate reaction.
The ruling was not immediately available publicly.
Codelco, which sued Ecuador in 2021 in a separate case for discrepancies at Llurimagua, said in a statement it would review the ruling, but that the decision went against legal security for mining projects.
"Codelco considers it worrying that the ruling expressly determines the application of a law in a retroactive way," the company said, adding environmental consultations have only been required since 2021.
Ecuador is home to abundant mineral resources, but development of its mining sector remains well behind that of countries like Chile and Peru because of court rulings and resistance from indigenous communities.
The government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso has pledged to increase mining development to aid the struggling economy. Mining exports grew 32.6% last year to $2.77-billion.
The area around the Llurimagua project is home to a rare species of frog previously thought extinct, said Andrea Teran, a biologist specializing in amphibians.
Twenty-two of the 34 species of amphibians which live in the area are considered threatened, she added.