The Ecuador Constitutional Court has unanimously rejected the final legal challenge against the environmental licence for Silvercorp Metals’ El Domo mining project.
The El Domo project sets a precedent in Ecuador as the first in the country to conduct environmental consultations in line with the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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This procedure has been confirmed by various tiers of the judicial system in Ecuador, encompassing both the regular courts and the Constitutional Court.
Upon completion, the project is set to deliver substantial socio-economic benefits to the Las Naves community, with 98% approval within its influence area.
The project, currently under construction, is expected to commence production in 2026.
On 5 June 2024, a constitutional protection action was initiated against the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition, challenging the environmental licence and consultation process of the El Domo project.
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By GlobalDataThe legal action was dismissed by a local court on 24 July 2024, and subsequent appeals were also rejected, upholding the project’s compliance with environmental consultation requirements.
The plaintiffs filed an Extraordinary Protection Action on 19 December 2024, but this was declined by the Constitutional Court on 26 February 2025 for not meeting constitutional admission criteria.
A subsequent motion for clarification was also unanimously rejected on 24 July 2025.
Despite these legal victories, Silvercorp Metals has faced opposition from anti-mining groups that persist in illegal and disruptive actions, raising safety concerns and challenging the rule of law.
Nonetheless, these activities have not significantly hindered the project’s progress.
In December 2024, Silvercorp Metals announced plans to develop the Condor gold project in Ecuador as an underground operation following a comprehensive review of technical data and historical core samples.
The Condor project features a variety of gold deposits, chief among them the Camp and Los Cuyes areas, which are home to the most identified mineral resources.
