SolGold strikes again in Ecuador鈥檚 Andean copper belt
Australia鈥檚 SolGold (LON, TSX:SOLG) has announced at its Alpala deposit in northern Ecuador, which could add $8.7 billion of revenue over the life of its planned Cascabel copper-gold mine.
The Primary Economic Assessment initially indicated total revenues of $74bn over the life of the mine, but being conducted ahead of a prefeasibility study, due out in the March quarter of 2020, has raised expectations.
The fresh results point to the recovery of an additional 4.4m ounces of gold, 24m ounces of silver and 354,000 tonnes of copper.
Improvements in copper and gold recoveries at its Alpala deposit in Ecuador could add $8.7bn of revenue over the planned mine life
The news is backed by a preliminary study , which suggests the Alpala mineral deposit could become 鈥渢he largest underground silver mine, third-largest gold and sixth-largest copper in the world.鈥
Ecuador has attracted a flurry of interest from big miners eager to increase their exposure to copper. The highly conductive metal is in demand for use in renewable energy and electric vehicles, but big, new deposits are rare.
Diversified majors particularly favour such large-scale, long-life projects as SolGold promises.
BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP), the world鈥檚 largest mining company, last year acquired , as a way of boosting its exposure to copper.
The move pushed Australia鈥檚 largest gold producer, Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM), to , consolidating its position as SolGold鈥檚 top shareholder.
Projects in Ecuador had faced potential delays and halts due to growing local opposition to the extraction of the country鈥檚 resources. Worries were partly cleared up after the country鈥檚聽Constitutional Court rejected in September a request聽to make mining permits subject to popular approval.
The Andean nation is moving forward with plans to move from an explorer hotspot to mining exporter as its only large-scale copper mine readies to ship its first large cargo in November.
Ecuador plans to attract $3.7 billion in mining investments over the next two years, up significantly from the $270 million it received in 2018.
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Comments
Sorry to break it to you, but Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled the consultation question was flawed, because it sought the results to be applicable to multiple jurisdictions,,,, it was NOT because consultations cannot be undertaken by local jurisdictions to resolve mining matters…. In reference to this line in your artcle> Worries were partly cleared up after the country鈥檚 Constitutional Court rejected in September a request to make mining permits subject to popular approval.