This is where I have a problem. If this govt. sees fit to enact what amounts to retroactive legislation, then how far back do we go? Who gets to say that our concessions were granted in a transparent and morally correct way? Them? And what about the previous owners? How did they come by the concessions? This a legal minefield IMO far worse than the real ones that remain in our area.

This government has shown a propensity to run roughshod over some fairly basic legal principles, including the one that gave them legislative power in the first place - ie. presidential decree. In point of fact, it reminds me not so much of Hugo Chavez but of George Bush, although I'll grant that Correa was elected fair and square, which is more than you can say for Bush.

This article, (along with articles 1, 2 and 5) is obviously directed at the so-called “concession squatters”, i.e. those people who have been given or paid very little for a whole swathe of concessions and have done little to move then forward. The vast majority of these concession squatters are Ecuadorian nationals who are part of the old boys' club of corruption that has plagued the country for decades. Remember that as of last week there were over 4,000 concessions granted in Ecuador that covered over 12% of the country’s surface area. It’s clear that many of these concessions were corrupt agreements between previous governments/authorities and their friends. Companies like ARU are being damaged here (at least in theory, see point 2), but are being hit somewhat on the ricochet.

This may be a bit oblique, but what about someone who "owns" claims, has kept them up to date, but has no intention to ever mine them? What then? I can think of a few environmental groups that might see this as a back door to stop mining in certain areas. After all, protests, lobbies, advertising, lawyers, travel and hotel expenses, all these cost money. Maybe it's cheaper to just buy the concessions and keep them up to date? Maybe you could even mine one or two of the less sensitive areas to finance your operations...LOL! Now that's thinking outside the box.

For example: http://www.tbfn.net/reserve1.htm Note, these are not mining concessions, they outright own the land, but the intent is the same. Ironically, I'd thought of firing a few Aurelian bucks in their direction, as with the Great Bear Rain Forest group whose cause I also support. Bears need a place to live too.

ebear