UPDATE 1-Ecuador exports first copper concentrate from Chinese-owned Mirador mine – by Alexandra Valencia (Reuters Africa – January 16, 2020)

https://af.reuters.com/

QUITO, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Ecuador made its first export of 22,000 tonnes of copper concentrate from the Chinese-owned Mirador mine, the energy ministry said on Wednesday, marking a new milestone in the country’s effort to develop a large-scale mining industry.

Ecuador, an Andean country neighboring No. 2 copper producer Peru, has large mineral reserves but is only beginning to establish industrial-scale mining projects.

Mirador is run by Ecuacorriente, a subsidiary of the Chinese consortium CRCC-Tongguan, which has a 30-year concession. It started production in July 2019.

The shipment of copper concentrate has a value of about 25 million dollars, according to the ministry, and was transported to the Port of Guayaquil and then by sea to the Chinese city of Tongling.

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group, one of China’s top copper smelters and a partner in Mirador,will take delivery of the concentrate shipment in late February at the port of Tongling on the Yangtze River, an official from the Chinese firm said on Thursday,adding that the cargo left Ecuador on Jan. 6.

For the rest of this article: https://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL1N29L052