Protestors stop Salazar’s drills

News that protestors had ransacked Salazar Resources’ (SRL-V, SRLZF-O) Curipamba gold and silver exploration project in Ecuador gave the market a shock, but the company insists the incident was not connected to any deep-seated resentment of its operations.

On returning to Canada from Ecuador, Salazar director Etienne Walter likened the intruders to little more than vandals.

“There’s nothing to negotiate about,” Walter said on a company webcast after being asked if negotiations were under way with the group. “They have no face. They’re a group of people that come disorganized, they land on you, they ransack you and then they leave. What is there to negotiate?”

While precise details of the incident remain scant, Salazar announced on Oct. 12 that protestors had destroyed or stolen drill core from four holes.

“They came into the community by surprise, they got their hands into anything that could be company property,” Walters says. “Maybe they thought the core was pure gold bars, I can’t tell you anything further.”

As a result of the incident, drilling has stopped and the crew has been removed from the premises. Drilling, Salazar says, likely won’t start again for another three weeks.

While such a time period may sound like a drastic response to the work of mere vandals, Walter says the delay has more to do with the logistics of starting up again than the severity of the incident.

On the news, the Vancouver-based junior’s shares fell 10% or 29 to $2.61 on roughly 95,000 shares traded.

Two environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reached in Ecuador said they were unaware of the incident, which would seem to back up Walters claim that the intruders did not approach the Ecuadorian press with any concerns, as would normally be the case.

Luis Corral, head of the mining division at Accion Ecologica, an NGO in Ecuador, said while he hadn’t heard of problems at Salazar’s project, many communities in mining areas were upset with miners both because concessions are often awarded by the government without the communities being told, and because they see little benefit from the industry. Often, Corral said, that ire is directed at Canadian companies.

But Walter insists that Salazar has followed all of its social and environmental requirements. In addition, its management is largely composed of Ecuadorians — most notably its namesake, president and chief executive Fredy Salazar. Those factors have helped it remain in good stead with communities surrounding the project, Walter says.

He hypothesized that the intruders came from outlying areas.

“The local community rallied around the company, they work hand in hand,” Walter says. “The local community is more strong than ever to watch and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Salazar says it maintains support from over 90% of local community residents.

While its own community development officers are in the field working with stakeholders, the government is securing communities near the project and investigating the activities of the protest leaders, Salazar says. No arrests have been made.

The company had been in the midst of a 48-hole, 9,000-metre drill program at the site. Once the campaign restarts, holes 4 through 7 will be twinned, compensating for the lost core.