Ecuador seeks consultancy for strategic mining plan

Ecuador’s energy and mines ministry will accept expressions of interest until December 18 to carry out consultancy work for the strategic planning of the mining sector.

According to the tender, the one-year contract is worth approximately US$980,000 and the aim is to obtain an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the sector and create a public policy for 2025-35.

The work will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will include a detailed analysis of compliance with the 2020-30 national mining development plan.

That plan included six axes: economic development; social and environmental sustainability; research and development; management and administration; regulation and control; and combating illegal mining.

The objectives included attracting private investment, strengthening the social responsibility of those involved in mining, promoting research and the use of technology to preserve the environment, promoting efficient public administration and fostering a solid regulatory framework.

Ecuador currently has five mining initiatives considered strategic: Fruta del Norte, Mirador, Río Blanco, Loma Larga and Panantza-San Carlos but the portfolio also includes projects such as Llurimagua, Warintza, Cascabel and Cangrejos.

Mirador (copper) and Fruta del Norte (gold) are the only two industrial-scale mines in production in Ecuador, which also has the medium-scale projects Curipamba and La Plata which should become the third and fourth industrial mines. Construction of the Curipamba polymetallic project is due to begin in 2025 and at the La Plata gold project work is expected to start in 2026. 

Río Blanco has been halted since 2018 by legal action filed by anti-mining groups and has been the target of illegal miners.

The government of Daniel Noboa, whose mandate will end next May if he does not win reelection in February, aims to boost the mining sector and one of the planned actions is to update the mining registry, which has been closed since 2018.

In a recent interview with BNamericas, deputy energy minister Rebeca Illescas said that as part of the measures to clean up and reopen the registry, she hopes to have a first look at the status of concessions by the end of this year.

Illescas' goal is to begin making decisions to open new areas next year.

Mining products are now Ecuador’s fourth largest export item, with sales of US$2.41bn in January to September, according to figures from the mining department.

In 2023, mining exports totaled nearly US$3.3bn but this year sales abroad will be affected, among other factors, by the country's electricity crisis.