{"id":1150291,"date":"2019-11-18T05:48:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T11:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1007058"},"modified":"2019-11-18T05:48:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T11:48:41","slug":"lundin-kicks-off-production-at-fruta-del-norte-mine-in-ecuador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1150291","title":{"rendered":"Lundin kicks off production at Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Canada\u2019s Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG)&nbsp;has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lundingold.com\/en\/news\/lundin-gold-announces-the-inauguration-of-the-frut-122606\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">begun production at its Fruta del Norte gold-silver mine<\/a> in Ecuador, the country\u2019s largest, after spending $1 billion over five years.<\/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<p>The opening ceremony, held on Nov. 14, was attended by Ecuador\u2019s<br \/>\nvice president, Otto Sonnenholzner, and energy minister, Carlos Perez, as well<br \/>\nas provincial and local authorities and key stakeholders, the company said.<\/p>\n<p>First dor\u00e9 bar was produced on Nov. 16 from the gravity<br \/>\ncircuit at the mine, which is located in the southeastern Amazon province of<br \/>\nZamora Chinchipe.<\/p>\n<p>The Vancouver-based miner said production of gold<br \/>\nconcentrate, as part of the commissioning activities, was well advanced, with<br \/>\nthe first containers being loaded with marketable concentrate.&nbsp;Commissioning<br \/>\nof the carbon in leach circuit, in turn, is ongoing and nearing completion, Lundin<br \/>\nnoted.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Lundin has been developing the asset for almost two years, following a 2016&nbsp;agreement with Ecuador\u2019s government<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Based on the current projections,&nbsp;the first export of concentrate and dor\u00e9 is projected to happen by mid-December. This means the company is on track to beginning commercial production at Fruta del Norte in the second quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Lundin, worth almost C$1.7 billion, has been developing the<br \/>\nasset for almost two years, following a 2016&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/ecuador-grants-lundin-key-permit-for-its-fruta-del-norte-gold-mine\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreement with Ecuador\u2019s government<\/a>&nbsp;that allowed it to<br \/>\nmove ahead with the project.<\/p>\n<p>The company acquired Fruta del Norte in 2014 for $240<br \/>\nmillion&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/kinross-gold-allegedly-trying-to-recover-ecuador-mine-losses-51340\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">from fellow Canadian miner Kinross Gold<\/a>&nbsp;(TSX:K)<br \/>\n(NYSE:KGC), which had to halt operations after being unable to reach an<br \/>\nagreement with authorities&nbsp;regarding the terms for developing&nbsp;the<br \/>\nasset.<\/p>\n<p>The underground gold and silver mine contains six of<br \/>\nLundin\u2019s 29 mining concessions and covers 70,000 hectares of land. Discovered<br \/>\nin 2006, Fruta del Norte is expected to produce almost 4.7 million ounces of<br \/>\ngold over a 15 year mine life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe opening of Fruta del Norte is a turning point for the<br \/>\nmining industry in Ecuador,\u201d Keith Barron,&nbsp;who discovered the deposit and<br \/>\nis now Aurania Resources\u2019 chairman and chief executive&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aurania.com\/update-on-drilling-at-auranias-gold-silver-target-yawi\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in a separate statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time in Ecuador\u2019s history, gold mining will be carried out in a responsible, technically safe and sustainable way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/fruta-del-norte-location.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1007061\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/fruta-del-norte-location.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/fruta-del-norte-location-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/fruta-del-norte-location-768x344.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption><em>Courtesy of <a href=https:\/\/www.mining.com\/lundin-kicks-off-production-at-fruta-del-norte-mine-in-ecuador\/\n\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Lundin Gold.<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ecuador has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/ecuadors-rising-opposition-mining-may-thwart-exploration-boom\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">gained ground<\/a>&nbsp;as a mining investment destination over the past two years, with top miners entering into joint ventures or investing in juniors to gain exposure to&nbsp;projects&nbsp;in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Anglo American (LON: AAL) also landed in the South American<br \/>\nnation through a deal with Canada\u2019s Luminex Resources (TSX-V: LR). The company<br \/>\nplans to develop two copper and gold concessions there.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Ecuador\u2019s emerging mining sector employs 5,000<br \/>\npeople, but&nbsp;estimates the figure will rise to about 16,000 by 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First export of gold concentrate and dor&eacute; is expected by mid-December.<\/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":"","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":"","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 center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2849,949,369,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1150291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150293,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150291\/revisions\/1150293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1150291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1150291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1150291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}