Lowell Mineral Exploration Ecuador S.A. a subsidiary of Solaris Resources (TSE: SLS) has partnered with Pact, an international development organization with experience working with Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, to develop the Artisanal Mining Project that Solaris is carrying out in conjunction with the Shuar Centres of Warints and Yawi.
Pact works in partnership with governments, industry partners and stakeholders in artisanal mining to formalize artisanal mining to make it safer, more productive and equitable. Pact will provide consulting and implementation services to support the responsible artisanal mining strategy promoted by Solaris as part of the Warintza Model that the company has been developing since November 2020 in conjunction with the Shuar communities directly influenced by the Warintza project.
“This project advances our vision of sustainability in Indigenous communities in support of creating formal employment opportunities,” Federico Velásquez, Solaris VP Operations, said in a media release. “We are proud of this alliance with Pact, an NGO renowned worldwide for its work to benefit underdeveloped communities.”
Within this context, ten working groups were held with local stakeholders, including the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources and the Association of Mining Engineers of Ecuador (AIME).
On behalf of the National Government of Ecuador, Andrés Wierdak, Director of Small Scale Mining said:
The Warintza Project and the work carried out by Solaris in Ecuador is a case study for scholarly research in Ecuador and around the world, as an example of social responsibility and dialogue with local communities and joint efforts between the government, communities and the private sector, for the development of responsible large scale and artisanal mining.
