$1-B lawsuit against TSX, Copper Mesa could last years

Copper Mesa Mining, two of its directors and the Toronto Stock Exchange have asked an Ontario Superior Court judge to dismiss a $1- billion human rights lawsuit filed by three people from the village of Junin, in Ecuador, where the junior miner used to operate.

The judge will make a ruling within the next few weeks but the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Murray Klippensteins, says he expects there to be an appeal no matter what the judge decides because rules are being applied to a new area — a mining company’s actions in another country are being tried here in Canada.

“The courts are having to look at this very carefully so I think there will be a few appeals and an actual trial is probably several years away,” Klippensteins says.

The Ecuadorian villagers have accused Copper Mesa of hiring armed security forces that intimidated, threatened and assaulted villagers who blocked access to the company’s project area. They feared that an open-pit copper mine would destroy their long established agricultural community and wanted to stop development. The plaintiffs have a website ( www.ramirezversuscoppermesa.com) with their history of the case. A Canadianmade documentary about the uprising called Under Rich Earth premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008.

Klippensteins says the TSX has been named in the lawsuit because Copper Mesa (then known as Ascendant Copper) was dependent on the TSX listing to raise funds for the project and as well as to pay the security forces. The company was de-listed earlier this year. The TSX was informed that violence could be an issue before the listing was approved. Only two directors were named in the lawsuit because they are the only ones that reside in the jurisdiction of the Ontario court. The lawsuit claims the directors have a duty to avoid harm to individuals and communities where the company is exploring.

Klippensteins says the $1 billion is meant to compensate the plaintiffs for the violence and threats they allegedly endured, but more important is the punitive damage aspect.

“They would like to win to show (that) legal rules can and should stop this kind of activity and that Canadian mining companies should change their behaviour in Ecuador and all over the world,” Klippensteins says. “The attraction of a potentially large mineral deposit makes it very easy for companies to let principles slip and resort to violence against opposition to get at those minerals.”

Carlos Zorrilla who has been acting as the plaintiff’s translator in court is an anti-mining activist who lives near Junin. He hopes this case will help Canadians be better informed about the industry.

“We would like the Canadian courts to take into consideration what happens to communities overseas when Canadian mining companies fund themselves on the Toronto Stock Exchange without any regulation and then go to our communities to violate our rights,” Zorilla says. “Imagine a company getting together $30 million or $40 million and going to a country like Ecuador that may not have effective regulation.”

The Ecuadorian government revoked Copper Mesa’s explo- ration permits in 2008 when the government decided to rewrite the country’s constitution. New mining legislation has since been introduced, which Zorrilla says is an improvement from before but falls short in many areas.

The Canadian parliament is currently reviewing Bill C-300, which would impose new guidelines for miners and oil companies in foreign countries and penalize those companies that break the rules.

No one from the TSX or Copper Mesa was available for comment.

Klippensteins’ law firm is taking on the case pro bono.