Solaris marks 'important milestone' with presentation of EIA for Ecuador's Warintza copper project

Canada’s Solaris Resources presented the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to Ecuador’s environment ministry for its US$3.5bn Warintza copper, gold and molybdenum project.

Warintza, in the southeast Amazonian province of Morona Santiago, 40km north of the Mirador copper mine, is considered one of the most important mining developments in the country.

The company expects to obtain technical approval for the EIA in the first half of next year.

The EIA was prepared by Ecuadoran consulting firm ESSAM, which used technical data prepared by international firms including Knight Piésold Consulting, a specialist in tailings, waste, water and closure design; and Ausenco, an expert in metallurgical studies and process plant design, Solaris said in a statement.

ESSAM has completed several EIAs for mining projects in Ecuador, including the Mirador copper mine, and a series of environmental compliance audits for the Fruta del Norte gold mine, south of Warintza, the statement said.

“Warintza is a priority for Solaris and the presentation of the EIA marks an important milestone towards the construction of the project,” Federico Velásquez, the company’s president of operations for Latin America, told BNamericas.

The EIA is the result of more than three years of technical work supported by two community consultations and several project phase changes, driven by the company's community-centered participatory mining model, added Velásquez.

“We're proud to have invested more than US$170mn in the project to date, with almost all procurement coming from Ecuadoran supply chains, 55% coming from local cantons,” added the Solaris executive.

According to the company, the Warintza project currently employs more than 500 people and is the main source of formal employment in the area, and one of the largest job creators in the Amazon region of the country.

Jobs are expected to increase to 5,000 in the mine construction phase and 2,000 in the operation phase.

According to the latest estimates, Warintza's measured and indicated resources stand at 909Mt grading 0.53% copper equivalent at a cut-off grade of 0.25%.

Santiago Yépez, former president of the local mining chamber, told BNamericas that the study is an important step forward for the consolidation of an emblematic project for mining in Ecuador, as it opens the door for Warintza to enter the construction phase in the near future.

"Solaris is certainly also looking to move forward, taking into account the time it takes for approvals at the ministry of the environment, and to make provisions so that these times are in line with the technical progress of the project," said Yépez.

In Ecuador, approval times for environmental licenses can take between 12 and 18 months.

Yépez adds that one of the issues that most attracts attention to Warintza is the cooperation that it has achieved with the Shuar indigenous communities.

In a recent interview with BNamericas, Ricardo Obando, manager for Ecuador of Lowell Mineral, the local subsidiary of Solaris, said that Warintza is a world-class project and could become one of the most important not only in Ecuador but in the region.