{"id":1150788,"date":"2019-11-20T05:47:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T11:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1007217"},"modified":"2019-11-20T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T11:47:08","slug":"chiles-codelco-set-to-get-a-slice-of-ecuadors-copper-riches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1150788","title":{"rendered":"Chile\u2019s Codelco set to get a slice of Ecuador\u2019s copper riches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chile\u2019s Codelco, the world\u2019s No. 1 copper producer, is closer<br \/>\nto securing a long-awaited deal with Ecuador-controlled miner Enami EP, which<br \/>\nwill allow them to jointly develop a massive project located about 80 km<br \/>\nnortheast of the country\u2019s capital, Quito. <\/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 982-million-tonne Llurimagua copper project, in the northern<br \/>\nImbabura Province, is in the advanced exploration stage and could become the<br \/>\nfirst mine the Chilean giant operates abroad. <\/p>\n<p>Construction should begin shortly after the board of Llurimagua<br \/>\nCopper Company S.A., the 51%-49% joint venture between Codelco and Enami, approves<br \/>\nthe agreement that formalizes the entity.<\/p>\n<p>That announcement, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elmercurio.com\/Inversiones\/Noticias\/Analisis\/2019\/11\/18\/Hoy-se-definiria-futuro-del-proyecto-que-busca-internacionalizar-operaciones-de-Codelco.aspx\">local<br \/>\npaper El Mercurio reports<\/a>, is expected to come this week.<\/p>\n<p>Codelco and Enami first signed a cooperation agreement about<br \/>\na decade ago, but the companies only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/chiles-codelco-ink-copper-deal-ecuador-controlled-miner\/\">began<br \/>\ntalking about Llurimagua in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ecuador\u2019s vice minister of mining Fernando<br \/>\nBenalc\u00e1zar,&nbsp;the project is one of the copper industry\u2019s \u201ccrown jewels\u201d, but<br \/>\nits development has faced challenges, including intermittent resistance from<br \/>\nnearby communities over environmental concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving this deposit in our soil and partnering with the<br \/>\nworld&#8217;s number one copper company, open the doors for development technology, employment<br \/>\nopportunities and economic growth. This project can change the lives of<br \/>\nChileans and Ecuadorians,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/impresa.elmercurio.com\/Pages\/SearchResults.aspx?ST=miner%25u00eda+&amp;SF=&amp;SD=10%2F09%2F2013&amp;ED=11%2F09%2F2013&amp;NewsID=164552&amp;IsExternalSite=False\">Benalc\u00e1zar<br \/>\nsaid earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, the Llurimagua deposit is completely different than<br \/>\nin 2015. The Jun\u00edn target lead us to discover 1km continued mineralization,\u201d Codelco\u2019s<br \/>\nexploration team leader, Angelo Aguilar, added.<\/p>\n<p>Construction at Llurimagua is expected to take up to four<br \/>\nyears. Once at full tilt, the mine is expected to churn out 210,000 tonnes of<br \/>\ncopper annually over a 27-year productive life.<\/p>\n<p>To date, the miner has spent about $40 million in exploration<br \/>\nand plans to invest another $3 million by 2021. From that figure, $131 million<br \/>\nwill be destined to Llurimagua.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>From Explorers\u2019 Hotspot to Copper Producer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ecuador, the new darling of copper prospectors,&nbsp;expects<br \/>\nto attract $3.7 billion in mining investments over the next two years, up<br \/>\nsignificantly from the $270 million it received in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The country is moving forward with plans to move from an<br \/>\nexplorers hotspot to mining exporter as its only large-scale copper mine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/ecuador-moving-from-explorers-hotspot-to-copper-exporter-with-first-cargo\/\">readies<br \/>\nto ship its first large cargo this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The $1.4 billion Mirador open-pit mine, owned by a joint<br \/>\nventure of Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group and China Railway Construction<br \/>\n(EcuaCorriente), opened in July, but has turned out to be a \u201cheadache for the<br \/>\ngovernment,\u201d Benalc\u00e1zar said in a presentation in Chile\u2019s capital Santiago last<br \/>\nweek.<\/p>\n<p>The authority said the copper-gold mine has been suspended<br \/>\nthree times since construction due to workers\u2019 safety issues. \u201cFor the<br \/>\noperators, safety is not a priority and we had to make big efforts to tell them<br \/>\nthat Ecuador has rules to follow,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG), which has been developing<br \/>\nits Fruta del Norte gold-silver project for almost two years, has produced its dor\u00e9<br \/>\nand gold concentrate, and is on track to beginning commercial activities in the<br \/>\nsecond quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Other than Llurimagua, another two major copper projects are<br \/>\ndue to be in production by 2024: &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/solgold-strikes-again-in-ecuadors-andean-copper-belt\/\">SolGold\u2019s<br \/>\n(LON, TSX:SOLG) Cascabel<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/ecuador-mining-reforms-good-news-lumina-golds-project\/\">Lumina<br \/>\nGold\u2019s (TSX-V:LUM) (OTC:LUMAF) Cangrejos<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world&rsquo;s No. 1 copper producer is expected to ink a deal Ecuador&#8217;s Enami this week, to jointly develop the massive Llurimagua deposit.<\/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 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