Extinct toad and new frog halt mining bids in Ecuador's Intag Valley
A rediscovered toad and newly discovered frog species have twice stopped mining attempts in Ecuador's Intag Valley.
In 2016, scientists found four yellow-splotched toads near a river in Ecuador's Intag Valley. The long-nose harlequin toad had not been seen since 1989, when a fungal disease killed many amphibians across the Andes.
A few years later, researchers discovered a tiny brown frog, a completely new species named the Intag resistance rocket frog. Llurimagua is a planned open-pit copper mine valued at more than US$3 billion, situated where these discoveries were made.
When an international tender opens this year, at least three Australian companies are expected to bid: BHP, South32 and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting subsidiary. Previous mining attempts have failed partly because of these species.
The Intag Valley stretches from tropical lowland rainforest to a 5000-metre volcano and is home to brown-headed spider monkeys, spectacled bears and more than two dozen amphibian species.
Why it mattersMining would destroy one of Earth's most biodiverse small areas. It also risks losing species that science has barely started to understand.
AustraliaAustralian mining companies now compete for a concession where wildlife discoveries once blocked development, raising questions about how Australia's firms operate in sensitive global ecosystems.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 4 h ago
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