Construction at Ecuador's Curipamba mine set to start early 2025 and production by end-2026

After receiving authorization in August, Canadian companies Silvercorp and Salazar Resources are preparing to begin early work for the construction of their Curipamba polymetallic mine in Ecuador.

“Early works will take place from November to the end of the year and construction is expected to start after the rainy season in the area, towards the second quarter. We expect to start production at the end of 2026,” Freddy Salazar, corporate development manager at Salazar Resources, told BNamericas.

Early works include embankments, temporary camps, road maintenance works and widening of access roads, among others.

Curipamba is a medium-scale mining project in the Las Naves canton of Bolívar province in central Ecuador. It is set to be the country’s third industrial-scale mine after Mirador and Fruta del Norte.

Capex is currently put at US$250mn but changes are not ruled out, according to Salazar.

Curipamba contains mainly copper and gold but also zinc, lead and silver.

In January, the companies obtained the environmental license for construction and operation.

Curipamba is designed as an open-pit operation with a 10-year mine life followed by a five-year extension as an underground operation.

According to company data presented during a conference held by Ecuador’s chamber of mines, the project would provide the State with around US$380mn in taxes and royalties.

Curipamba required a total of 27 authorizations, including a certificate of non-affectation of water, which is a technical study that demonstrates the measures that will be adopted to protect the source.

The environmental license establishes more than 50 monitoring points for surface water quality, more than 100 flow measurements, more than 20 monitoring points for groundwater quality and quantity control and more than 50 monitoring points for water discharge quality, among others.

The processing plant will recirculate 90% of the water used.

According to the operators, proven and probable open-pit mineral reserves total 6.5Mt grading 1.93% copper, 2.52g/t gold, 46g/t silver, 2.49% zinc and 0.2% lead.