Lumina published last year the prefeasibility study for Cangrejos, in southwest Ecuador, which put initial capex at $925 million and average gold equivalent production at 469,000 ounces over a 26-year mine life.
The planned processing plant for the mine, which is also Ecuador’s largest primarily gold, is a conventional copper-gold flotation concentrator and hybrid leach-carbon-in-leach circuit.
Ecuador has abundant mineral reserves but has lagged behind regional neighbours such as Peru and Chile in large-scale mining development.
The Constitutional Court helped last year to clarify rules governing prior consent for mining projects, which according to mining chamber boss, Maria Eulalia Silva, has sped up permitting.
