{"id":1143271,"date":"2019-10-10T11:24:41","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1004104"},"modified":"2019-10-10T11:24:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:24:41","slug":"ecuador-woes-weigh-on-solgolds-shares-projects-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1143271","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador woes weigh on SolGold\u2019s shares, projects future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Worries around the fate of SolGold\u2019s (LON, TSX:SOLG) projects in Ecuador escalated this week after President Lenin Moreno, whose austerity measures set off violent protests, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/web\/ecuadors-government-flees-capital-and-warns-of-coup-threat\/\" >fled capital Quito<\/a> and sought refuge in the southern port city of Guayaquil, triggering rumours of a coup d&#8217;\u00c9tat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Miner\u00a0has seen its value halved since May, when a\u00a0proposed referendum on mining\u00a0casted initial doubts on the future of its projects and assets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Australian miner\u00a0has seen its value halved since May, when a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/solgolds-shares-crater-possible-mining-referendum-ecuador\/\" >proposed referendum on mining<\/a> casted doubts on the future of its projects and assets. From the 37.60 pence its shares were trading on May 1st in London, they have fallen 17.20 pence as on Thursday morning, leaving it with a market cap of only 317.57 million pounds (about $393 million).<\/p>\n<p>The copper and gold explorer, which holds 72 mineral concessions in Ecuador through four subsidiaries, tried calming investors on Thursday <a href=\"http:\/\/ir.q4europe.com\/Tools\/newsArticleHTML.aspx?solutionID=3676&amp;customerKey=Solgold&amp;storyID=14474407\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">by saying<\/a> its operations remain unaffected.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The safety and security of SolGold employees is of paramount importance, and the company has taken all necessary precautions and actions to ensure this is maintained,&#8221; it said <a href=\"http:\/\/ir.q4europe.com\/Tools\/newsArticleHTML.aspx?solutionID=3676&amp;customerKey=Solgold&amp;storyID=14474407\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">in the statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While SolGold expects protests to continue in the short-term, it also believes the government will be able to restore order soon.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Eyes in Alpala<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The company noted is on track to finish a third mineral resource estimate for t<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"he Alpala deposit (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/solgold-scores-finds-greater-resource-potential-ecuador-project\/\" >he Alpala deposit<\/a> on Cascabel copper-gold project to be published before year-end. A pre-feasibility study, in turn, would be ready in the first quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Cascabel project&nbsp;is&nbsp;a key project in<br \/>\nEcuador&#8217;s developing mining industry and a critical driver for the future of<br \/>\nEcuador&#8217;s economy in the view of the government,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<p>Major miners seem to agree. BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP), the world\u2019s<br \/>\nlargest mining company, last year acquired&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/worlds-biggest-miner-speeds-hunt-copper-assets-buys-6-stake-solgold\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a 6.1% stake in SolGold<\/a>, as a way of boosting its exposure<br \/>\nto copper.<\/p>\n<p>The move pushed Australia\u2019s largest gold producer, Newcrest<br \/>\nMining (ASX: NCM), to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/australias-top-gold-miner-boosts-bets-ecuador-copper-project\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">up its holding in the company<\/a>, consolidating its position<br \/>\nas SolGold\u2019s top shareholder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The company&#8217;s value has halved since May, when a proposed referendum on mining casted doubts on the miner&#8217;s future in the Andean country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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