Approval of Mirador copper mine expansion imminent, official says

Ecuadoran officials expect the Mirador copper mine expansion to receive the green light in the next few weeks.

Mirador, the largest producing mine in the country, is operated by EcuaCorriente, the local unit of Chinese consortium CRCC-Tongguan.

“We're regularizing the documentation of the negotiation process for the expansion, and we hope to sign the respective addendum in about four weeks or in August at the latest. The signing is important for our office because it will make the second phase of the project viable,” deputy minister of mines, Diego Ocampo, told BNamericas.

Ocampo added that the finance ministry's fiscal sustainability opinion is pending, but no issues are expected, since “the importance of the expansion of Mirador is very clear.”

Mirador phase II consists of increasing ore production of the Mirador I (Sur) deposit from 60,000t/d to 80,000t/d and of developing the Mirador Norte deposit, which will produce 60,000t/d of ore.

Investment for Mirador Norte, located 1km from Mirador Sur, is estimated at US$653 million.

According to data EcuaCorriente provided to BNamericas, Mirador produced 575,800t of copper concentrate last year.

The company expects Mirador Norte to start production in 2026, with 16Mt of ore and reach 19.8Mt in 2027.

Last year, EcuaCorriente finished the designs of the pit, the waste dump, the plant, accesses, the dams that collect water from the pit and the waste dump, the sedimentation pools and the conveyor belt.