Not exactly a barn burnerLong time waiting for this. Was in the planning stages 5+ years ago, finally got a feasibility study. A shallow underground mine is planned. 5 gram material, $200 rock. Probably could work at a 50% pre-tax margin. Very high taxes in Ecuador, over 50% if you count the royalties, and the NPV5 is 356m at 1250 gold, 3 copper. Capital is 279 pre-production. These projects very often run over budget. Of every dollar over, subtract one from the NPV. Hence a minor deviation and your profit is wiped out. Surprises are almost always negative in mining, so only the rosily projected 30+%-IRR projects tend to be built. This is only 2.2moz, so not of interest to a major producer. If built, it will be another 3-4 years at least until it's in production. It should pay back the debt, and then the meagre profits will probably to go regional exploration, and the project will flame out. This is the history of these small gold mining projects, enough to support some lavish lifestyles, but not enough to pay dividends. No idea of any local opposition, but the president assures us cyanide will not be used. Always a risk they'll bring back the windfall profits tax on this one, in Ecuador, where everyone is equal, and foreign multinational corporations are most equal of all. The best way to avoid tax is to avoid profits. Miners are great tax planners. Glad to be proved wrong, but gotta say, I'm from Missouri.