Ecuador May Begin Mine Royalty Talks Next Month, Chamber Says
April 15, 2010, 11:52 AM EDT
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By Nathan Gill
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador’s government maybegin negotiating new contracts with mining companies next month, thepresident of the nation’s mining chamber said.
The government may present proposals about howmuch it will charge in royalty taxes in May, Laura Zurita, the presidentof the Ecuadorean Mining Chamber, said yesterday in an interview at heroffice in Quito.
“Contract negotiations with the government are anissue that’s still pending,” Zurita said. Ecuador “is a country that’sgoing through a lot of legal changes and there are a lot of adjustmentsthat are waiting for us.”
Ecuador is adapting mining codes after thenation’s Congress rewrote the constitution in 2008, giving the nationgreater control over “strategic” industries such as mining and oilproduction. Ecuador created a new vice ministry of mines lastmonth to oversee negotiations with companies and coordinate state miningoperations. Jorge Glas replaced Galo Borja on April 6 as the newstrategic sectors minister, which oversees mining, oil, energy andtelecommunications.
Recent cabinet changes and the creation of a newvice ministry of mines “may speed up negotiations,” Zurita said.
Neither Germanico Pinto, the minister ofNon-Renewable Natural Resources, or the vice minister of mines, LuisBustamante, were available to comment, a press officer who isn’tauthorized to speak publicly, said today.
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