Ecuador’s Constitutional Court late on Friday denied for a second time a request by activists to hold a public vote on whether to ban mining in the Andean country’s mineral-rich Azuay province, where several mining projects are in development.
Azuay’s prefect, Yaku Perez, who submitted the request, said gold and copper mines threaten communities’ water sources and damage the environment.
The court, which in September ruled against Perez for the first time, unanimously decided that the public vote proposal was not constitutional.