QUITO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Ecuador made its first export of
22,000 tons of copper concentrate from the Chinese-owned Mirador
mining project, marking a new milestone in market-friendly
President Lenin Moreno's effort to develop the country's
large-scale mining industry, the energy ministry said on
Wednesday.
Ecuador, an Andean country neighboring No. 2 copper producer
Peru, has large mineral reserves but is only beginning to
establish industrial-scale mining projects.
Mirador is run by Ecuacorriente, a subsidiary of the Chinese
consortium CRCC-Tongguan, which has a 30-year concession. It
started production in July 2019 with a projection of some 94,000
tons of copper concentrate annually.
The shipment of copper concentrate has a value of about 25
million dollars, according to the ministry, and was transported
to the Port of Guayaquil and then by sea to the Chinese city of
Tongling.
Mirador, located in the Zamora Chinchipe province in
Ecuador's Amazon, foresees a total investment of more than 2
billion dollars during the concession period. The Chinese
company has paid some 100 million dollars in early royalties to
the Ecuadoran government.
The CRCC-Tongguan consortium bought the company with the
concession for the open-pit mine under former leftist President
Rafael Correa, who deepened Ecuador’s economic ties with China.
Environmental groups and local authorities have opposed
mining activity in the country and are promoting popular
consultation in some mineral-rich areas to prohibit their
development and reverse concessions already granted to foreign
companies.
Ecuador has other projects in the advanced exploration phase
such as Cascabel, awarded to Australia's SolGold, and
the Llurimagua project, which will be operated by Ecuadoran
state mining company Enami and Chile's Codelco.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Sarah Kinosian
Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
SolGold (SOLG)