Two possible mining projects could bring more than US$ 400 million to Ecuador

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Two court rulings give a boost to mining. One on July 24 and the other on August 2, in which the protection actions that sought to stop the Curipamba-El Domo and La Plata projects were rejected. The judges determined that there were no violations of rights as claimed by the social groups and the mayor of Sigchos, Óscar Monge, who requested legal measures.

The industry takes this as good news and points out that although the plaintiffs have announced that they will appeal the first-instance decisions, this does not imply that the projects will be paralyzed until the resolutions of the second-instance judges are known, but rather that they will advance cautiously. , as planned, until appeals are resolved.

In the case of Curipamba-El Domo, located within the Las Naves mining concession, in the canton of the same name in the province of Bolívar. On August 2, the Curimining company obtained authorization from the Ministry of Energy and Mines to begin the exploitation phase.

With this, the Canadian company has free rein to undertake the necessary work and investments. The Dome is made up of 1,458 mining hectares, the deposit contains copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. It will have a useful life of ten years, with a daily production of 1,800 tons, on average.

Curimining's environmental license in Las Naves remains valid after judge's ruling on environmental consultation

Meanwhile, the La Plata project, of the Atico Mining company, will resume the application of the environmental consultation phase in the parishes of Palo Quemado and Las Pampas, in the province of Cotopaxi. The citizen participation process was temporarily stopped due to a precautionary measure, while the protection action promoted by the mayor of Sigchos was resolved.

The environmental consultation will be the basis for the Ministry of the Environment to grant the environmental license to continue with the following phases. Copper, gold and silver are expected to be extracted from La Plata. The mine will have a useful life of approximately 8.1 years, during which time an annual production of 310,250 tons is estimated.

“These are two (judicial) rulings that become historic. This is not only important for El Domo or La Plata, it is important for the responsible mining industry and for the country. This is great news for investors, for miners, it should be great news for Ecuadorians,” says María Eulalia Silva, executive president of the Chamber of Mining of Ecuador (CME), adding that the first instance rulings recognize that the Ministry of the Environment has carried out its duty to carry out the environmental consultation in compliance with due process.

Silva insists that the country must open more towards the development of "responsible mining", with "quality foreign investment", since the absence of this gives rise to territories being taken over by illegal mining.

“Las Naves or Palo Quemado are economically depressed cantons, they are cantons that deserve to have formal progress, decent development and what better than through an investment like the one we are talking about,” he comments.

Speaking of investments, María Eulalia Silva mentions that “responsible mining has a paradox” because on the one hand it is doing well, but it could do much better if the projects had started months or years ago.

Remember that in the years of construction of the large mines, Fruta de Norte and Mirador, the largest amount of foreign direct investment that the country received came from the development of those projects. On the contrary, it points out that the flow of foreign capital was reduced in 2023, and there were even disinvestments, due to the instability of the country.

In this context, during the first quarter of 2024, total investment in the mining sector amounted to $91 million, according to the mining sector bulletin published on July 31 by the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE). The largest investments were recorded in the Mirador mine ($45 million); and, Fruta del Norte ($15 million), mines located in Zamora Chinchipe, the report states.

The spokesperson for the Chamber of Mining highlights that if the Curipamba-El Domo and La Plata projects enter construction in the following months, the country would receive more than $400 million in investments.

The union reports that in 2023 the industry generated $3,324 million in exports and there is an expectation of closing 2024 with a similar level; That is to say, the industry will not take off this year.

In this regard, the ECB report states that in the first quarter of 2024, mining exports totaled $755 million, which represents a decrease of 5.9% compared to the same period in 2023.

Fernando Benalcázar, mining and energy analyst and former Vice Minister of Mines, observes that it is foreseeable that investments and the pace of activities in Curipamba-El Domo will increase if the first instance ruling is ratified in the appeal.

On the other hand, in La Plata the Ministry of the Environment will continue with the environmental consultation. But in this case, the political factor will also influence considering that the 2025 general elections are approaching and President Daniel Noboa will seek re-election.

In that sense, says Benalcázar, “they will be very cautious and meticulous in this consultation process; I don't think they will make much progress until we see what happens when the presidential candidate, in November, has to delegate the Presidency. The political factor has been something that, from the perspective of the Ministry of the Environment and other entities of the current government, weighs a lot.”

The former vice minister believes that the mining industry will have better dynamism in 2025, once the legal stages of the processes in Las Naves and La Plata are overcome, and progress is made with the opening of the mining cadastre.

Rubén Flores, dean of the Faculty of Economics at the Catholic University of Ecuador, reflects that in the recessionary context that the country has faced since the pandemic, we have to commit to “a serious investment effort in the productive sectors, in terms of the economic structure.” ”.

But that cannot be far from respect and development of the communities of influence if we are on the verge of a “mining boom.”

“The business sector that is going to invest must guarantee a space of harmony within that framework. If that could be respected, any exercise understanding that we must guarantee the transition from an extractivist model to a model with a lot of wealth in knowledge, because simply the agreements, the bases, the commitments that are reached will be of benefit to Ecuador and the future generations,” he comments.

The country must think about exploiting natural resources in a sustainable manner over time, to avoid making the same mistakes that have been seen with the exploitation of oil. That is, it transcends a model focused on the export of raw materials and advances in the transformation and injection of added value.

Opening of the mining cadastre

In mid-July, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Goncalves, announced that the Government is preparing to open the mining cadastre, which was closed in 2018.

This is not the first time that this intention has been mentioned, both in the current government and in that of Guillermo Lasso.

The Chamber of Mining is optimistic about the initiative and recommends to the Government that the cadastre “be opened with all the conditions of transparency and demand”, in order to avoid irregularities that occurred years ago.

The intention, according to María Eulalia Silva, is to attract “quality investments”, from companies with experience, that demonstrate investment in technology to control and mitigate any eventual impact. That they are companies also committed to community development.

For his part, Benalcázar points out that according to statements from the authorities, the registry would be opened in the last quarter of this year, since the problems in the electronic platform have been overcome, contractual issues have been resolved and there is updated information.

“The IDB loan, which is what finances all this, is in progress and ready to open. I think that in the last quarter of this year we will have the cadastre ready,” he says. (YO)

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Two possible mining projects could bring more than US$ 400 million to Ecuador

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