The Chamber of Mines of Ecuador today rejected the possible adoption in the Constituent Assembly of a "mandate" to regulate the sector and announced tomorrow for a mobilization of their members to the Presidential Palace in Quito.

The director of the Chamber, Javier Cruz, said in a press conference that morning delivered to the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, a proposal by the guild to develop a "responsible mining."

The Constituent Assembly, dominated by the match official Country Alliance, expected to discuss and approve in the coming days, the "mining mandate", which has the force of law and represents a reversal of thousands of concessions to the state.

According to spokespersons of the Constituent Country Alliance, the mandate will include the reversion to the State of concessions made in an irregular manner in the past and on those who have not made investments in recent years.

In addition, the group has raised the official creation of a state mining company, which controls the sector, and strengthening of financial and environmental provisions applied to the activity.

The Chamber of Mines said that the mandate could cancel investments worth 2,000 million dollars in the next two years, and eliminate the creation of 70,000 "quality jobs in the next ten years."

"We need a new law, but not a mandate to kill mining," said Cruz, and asked the Government to open a space for discussion with all sectors involved.

"We call for open debate on the new law, that is the product of serious analysis covering the technical, economic, social and environmental problems to make the right decisions for the entire Ecuador and all Ecuadorians," he added Cross.

The representative of the business sector miner described, in addition to the information available to the Constituent "little objective", and said that this situation "threatens the decisions that the Assembly might take.

The leaders of the mining sector, expressed deep concern over the issuance of a mandate that seeks to block any mining activity medium and large scale without, according to the spokesmen, arguments based on technical bases.

The director of the Chamber of Mines estimated that the planned investments in the country "will be suspended immediately if approved the mandate, due to the uncertainty created in the projects increases the risk indexes, which are already very high" in that activity.

If approved the mandate mining, "according to Cruz," is imminent "the interruption of mining activities in the country could lose 200,000 jobs that the industry holds at present.

Also, Cruz said, "loss of 1,700 million dollars in taxes" that the mining industry expected to bring fiscal sector, which is the amount, he said, represents 30 percent of what it currently provides the entire private sector in taxes.

The Chamber of Mines president supported the idea of Correa, who recently said that allow mining on a large scale, provided that it complies with senior ranks of environmental and social security.

"The mining industry aspires to the construction of a clear legal framework regulating mining activities," ensuring respectful and sustainable environmental practices, establish the State's participation in the activity "and work for community development", which recorded the projects, remarked Cruz.

The director of the Chamber deplored the possibility that the closing "of the opportunities offered by mining jobs to fight poverty, migration and raise the quality of life of Ecuadorians."