Ecuador to approve Mirador copper mine expansion by August — official

Mirador has reserves estimated 3.2 million tonnes of copper and it is one of the country's only two mines in operations.

The government of Ecuador is in the final steps of approving an expansion for the Mirador copper mine, run by the local unit of Chinese consortium CRCC-Tongguan, EcuaCorriente.

Diego Ocampo, vice minister of mines, told BNamericas his office was finishing reviewing the project’s documentation, adding he hoped to be signing off on the expansion in about for weeks or by August at the latest. 

The authority noted the finance ministry’s fiscal sustainability opinion is pending, but no issues were expected. “The importance of the Mirador expansion is very clear,” Ocampo said.

Mirador, in the southeastern Zamora-Chinchipe province, has reserves estimated 3.2 million tonnes of copper and it is one of the only two mines in Ecuador that are in operations. The other one is Lundin Gold’s (TSX: LUG) Fruta del Norte gold mine.

The extension, also dubbed Phase II, seeks to boost ore production at the Mirador I (South) deposit from 60,000 tonnes per day (20 million tpa) to 80,000 t/d (26.2 Mtpa). It also includes developing the Mirador North deposit, with an expected output of 60,000 t/d and an estimated investment of $653 million. 

After the extension, the company anticipates the total production scale of the Mirador Phase II project would be 140,000 t/d (46.2 million t/y), of which 80,000 t/d (26.4 million t/y) will come from the southern pit and 60,000 t/d (19.8 million t/y) from the northern section.

Mirador has an expected operative mine of 16.9 years — 20 years for the current south pit and about 16 for the northern one.

Last year, EcuaCorriente completed designs for the pit, waste dump, plant, access routes, water collection dams for the pit and waste dump, sedimentation pools, and the conveyor belt.

Mining was one of Ecuador’s top sources of income last year, behind sales of oil, bananas and shrimp, bringing $3.3 billion to the state’s coffers, data from the Chamber of Mines show. The sector also accounted for 51% of foreign investment in the country in 2023.

Companies hoping to explore and mine in the Andean country used to face fierce local opposition. A new process, which include public consultation, has mitigated that risk.

Popular referendums are now a necessary step for any company to obtain a mining license in Ecuador. Without them, firms would have to wait longer than expected to have all permits in place before starting construction of a mine.