100,000 Ecuadorians protest Canadian mining project threatening key water source

See also:"Tapirs, hummingbirds and a billion-dollar bedrock of gold: the Ecuador reserve that is now a battlefield over a new mine" ​https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/04/ecuador-cajas-mining-gold-silver-copper-exploitation-paramo-ecosystem-aoe  

Sept. 19, 2025

More than 100,000 people marched through Cuenca, a city in southern Ecuador, on Sept. 16, demanding that federal authorities revoke an environmental license for a gold mining project that may impact an important freshwater source.

The Loma Larga mining project, run by Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals, borders the 3,200-hectare (7,900-acre) Quimsacocha National Recreation Area, located within the UNESCO Macizo del Cajas Biosphere Reserve. Quimsacocha is a central source of clean freshwater in the Andean páramo tundra located approximately 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) southeast of Cuenca.

According to Reuters, protesters at the March for Water, convened by Indigenous and other local groups, chanted “Hands off Quimsacocha!” and “Water is worth more than anything!” with support from high-profile activists and politicians who oppose the mining project.

Cuenca mayor Cristian Zamora said the public outcry against the project is almost unanimous among his constituents. “We didn’t expect the amount of people that came out today to say yes to life, yes to water, and yes to our páramos,” he said in a video statement after the protest.

Ecuador’s environment ministry approved the Loma Larga project’s environmental license in late June. But on Aug. 6, the Ministry of Energy and Mining wrote a letter to Dundee requesting an environmental management plan, adding that “until the process is complete … the start of activities is suspended.”

“Our water, a heritage that is encoded in the spirit of every citizen of Cuenca, can’t just be put on pause,” Zamora wrote on X on Aug. 7. “We [will] remain highly vigilant until there is a complete stop.”

A 2024 technical report by Cuenca’s public water utility, ETAPA, had flagged widespread potential risks from mine waste and water contamination if the Loma Larga project proceeds, highlighting that rivers fed by Quimsacocha supply water to tens of thousands of people and irrigate the region’s crops and pastures.

Mining contamination in Quimsacocha could also further imperil the locally endangered Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), which uses the region for nesting and foraging. Fewer than 150 individuals are left in the country.

Ecuador’s energy and mining minister, Inés Manzano, recently warned that local government bodies could face legal repercussions if they were to take action to block the mine.

Dundee Precious Metals had not responded to Mongabay’s request for comments by the time of publishing. However, a July 7 press release celebrating the approval of Loma Larga’s environmental license said the project’s design and execution plan “has been optimized to minimize its footprint and reflect high standards of environmental stewardship and responsible water management.”

Dundee’s project reports state that it plans to extract 3,000 metric tons of gold, silver or copper ore per day, reaching more than 14 million tons over 12 years.

Banner image: Aerial photo of the March for Water held in Cuenca on Sept. 16. Image via @czamoramatute on X.

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Shreya DasguptaEditor