Solaris to invest US$3.5bn in Ecuadoran Warintza project

Canadian mining company Solaris Resources plans to invest US$3.5 billion in the construction and operation of its world-class Warintza copper project in Ecuador, up from the initially estimated US$42 million.

“This is no longer just an exploration project; it is an extraction project,” Ricardo Obando, the head of local subsidiary Lowell, said during the Power & Renewable Energies Summit in Quito.

Warintza, located in the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago, has indicated and inferred resources of around 1.5Bt of copper. The deposit also hosts molybdenum and gold.

Obando said that the company is negotiating an update to the 2022 contract with the production and investment ministry to incorporate the new capex.

The original contract provides for stable regulations, investment security, incentives like a 5% reduction on income tax, legal certainty, and others.

Once the addenda are signed, the project, currently in the advanced exploration phase, will progress further.

In the last six years, US$150mn have been invested, with another US$105mn earmarked for this year and next. Funds were raised from various investors, “which guarantees exploration for two or three years,” Obando said.

He added, that “not only is the company attracting the attention of large mine developers and large industrial companies worldwide, the country is as well.”

So far, 119,000m have been drilled and an additional 40,000m are planned for 2024.

Obando also said that construction will require 5,000 workers and operation 2,000.

Warintza is considered a prime example of good community relations. As part of its corporate culture, Solaris works hand in hand with local indigenous communities, which have given their consent to advance the project, according to Obando.

MINE DEVELOPMENTS

The Curipamba, La Plata, Cascabel and Loma Larga projects are expected to start production by 2030, boosting the local industry, as the Mirador copper and the Fruta del Norte gold mines are the only industrial-scale assets in production currently.

Output by Mirador, Fruta del Norte and small miners led to mining exports of more than US$3.2bn last year.

Ecuador has enormous potential, specifically regions like Morona Santiago and Imbabura, and an opportunity for industrialization amid the energy transition. The challenge is inserting the jurisdiction into the global matrix, Obando said.