The expansion of extractive industries, linked to metal mining, places the territories in a field of tension and political dispute over land. Transnational mining actors are acquiring vast tracts of land to develop large-scale projects under the figure of “concessions” and via the market through the purchase and rent of land from local agrarian elites seeking to expand their capital. In this context, the research analyzes the relationships between mining actors and landholding elites in the context of the development of mining projects and how land plays an important role in the process of capital reproduction. Through case studies in the Ecuadorian context, the research seeks to answer the following questions: What are the factors that enable the coordination between mining actors and landholding elites? What is the historical transformation of land ownership in mining areas? What elements characterize the process of concentration and land grabbing in mining areas? How does land rent operate in the process of reproduction of wealth in mining areas?
The theoretical and methodological approach is based on elements of territorial development with a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates approaches from critical geography and political economy.
