If Ecuador wants to play owner-operator using concessions once held by private firms - as confirmed by the MMP's Derlis Palacios - it should fully reimburse private companies' exploration and social responsibility expenses before taking the reins of their operations.

Otherwise, the government would be expropriating legally held concessions and fleecing private investors, which would only create a stampede exodus of the few foreign firms that continue trusting Correa's embrace of mining development.

Current developments do not point to a promising future for international mining operations in Ecuador. This conclusion holds unless President Correa shakes things up favoring the mining industry, a scenario that is increasingly unlikely due to his government's attack on foreign oil companies and his recent statements echoing Hugo Chavez.

Sincerely,

Silvia Santacruz
Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Writer-Editor, Ecuador Mining News