Loma Larga is on the way Loma Larga will add big profits!
Ecuador expects 3 new mines to start up by end-2023
Bnamericas
Published: Tuesday, September 07, 2021 Ecuador expects by 2023 to see production start at three new mines, adding to the Mirador copper and Fruta del Norte gold operations, currently the country’s only large-scale mines.
Mining undersecretary Xavier Vera Grunauer said the projects are Loma Larga, Cangrejos and La Plata.
During the virtual event Minera para Todos (Mining for All) held by Ecuador's mining engineers association AIME, Vera said the US$310mn Loma Larga gold-silver-copper project is well advanced and set to begin construction in 2022 for production to start by the end of next year.
Loma Larga, of Canada's Dundee, is in the southern province of Azuay and faces opposition from activist groups and local authorities.
The project has the potential to produce around 200,000oz/y of gold in the first five years, according to Dundee.
According to Vera, the Cangrejos gold project, operated by Lumina Gold, and the La Plata polymetallic project of Atico Mining, are due to start production by the end of 2023.
Cangrejos is in the coastal province of El Oro and is considered by the company as one of the 15 most promising yellow metal projects globally in the hands of independent developers.
La Plata is a copper, silver, gold and zinc project in central Cotopaxi province.
If Vera's expectations are met, all three projects would start production earlier than originally planned.