VANCOUVER, CANADA, June 9, 2009 – Corriente Resources Inc.
wishes to update shareholders on the following recent developments in Ecuador.
Ecuador – Chile (Codelco) Copper Development Cooperation
Agreement
In a June 5, 2009 ceremony attended by President Rafael
Correa Chile’s Minister of Mining, Mr. Santiago Gonzales and the President and
CEO of Codelco, Mr. Jose Pablo Arellano, a cooperation agreement was signed for
the exploration and development of potential copper resources currently under
the control of the Government of Ecuador. Personnel from Corriente were invited
as guests to the signing ceremony, which included top officials from Codelco,
President Rafael Correa, his Cabinet and local dignitaries.
After the signing, President Correa delivered a speech to
local communities and commented, "Colleagues I am an economist specializing in
development… and I know what is necessary for the country to emerge from
underdevelopment and to attend to the poorest. We cannot live as beggars sitting
on a sack of gold...".
Commented Ken Shannon, Corriente’s President and CEO, "We
welcome the participation of Codelco, the largest copper producer in the world,
in the development of the copper sector in Ecuador. Their presence is an
indicator of the success that the Government of Ecuador is having in advancing
the theme of responsible mining and an indication that this message is being
well received by the mining industry."
Ecuador Government Officials’ Tour of the Company’s
Projects
Also during this past weekend, a number of government
officials visited the company’s Mirador and Panantza – San Carlos project sites
and took the opportunity to see the responsible nature of the company’s
development activities.
Corriente was also able to provide a tour of our newly
commissioned Mirador micro-hydro project, which provides clean energy for all of
the needs of the Mirador camp through a small run-of-river hydro facility using
the existing water supply. This power project is significant in that it utilizes
the first "made in Ecuador" commercial turbine, which was completely designed
and built within Ecuador by an Ecuadorian engineering team. This small-scale
project is an example of the scalable green technology that can be part of
responsible mine development. Plans are underway to examine other potential
sites that can benefit from this Ecuador technology.
Community Relations Agreement with the Shuar Federation of
Zamora-Chinchipe
Recently, a capacity-building agreement was signed between
Corriente and the indigenous Shuar Federation of Zamora – Chinchipe ("SFZCH").
This agreement establishes specific capacity building, job training, and
socio-environmental projects with the SFZCH.
