Ecuador’s copper, lead exports drop through Q3 2024

Ecuador's copper, lead and precious metals exports dropped through the first three quarters from a year earlier as the Andean country's largest mines constrained output, the government said Nov. 25.

Copper-lead concentrates fell 16.7% to 447,277 mt through September from 536,684 mt a year earlier as Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group limited shipments from its 60,000 mt/d Mirador copper mine, the Production Ministry said in a statement. Export revenue was down 10% to $984 million, it said.

China's Tongling, which started up Mirador in 2019, is working on a $650 million plant expansion to 140,000 mt/d.

Other mining exports including silver and refined lead rose 14.5% to $614 million, according to the ministry. Gold exports dropped 33% to 14 mt from 20 mt a year ago.

Rolling power blackouts are also hampering operations at mines and ports, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency.

Lundin Gold plans an expansion of its 4,400 mt/d Fruta del Norte gold-silver mine to 5,000 mt/d this year. The mine, which produced 366,788 oz of gold through the first three quarters, down 4% from a year ago, expects to meet the high end of 2024 production guidance of 450,000-500,000 oz, CEO Ron Hochstein said Nov. 8.

Ecuador, which increased mining exports to a record $3.7 billion in 2023, is home to advanced mining projects including SolGold's Cascabel, Lumina Gold's Los Cangrejos, Atico Mining's La Plata, Silvercorp Metals' Curipamba and Dundee Precious Metals' Loma Larga.