Ecuador National News

The Shuar Arutam Will Not Be Deterred and Have Already Decided: No Mining!
In Eastern Ecuador The Shuar Arutam people are 47 communities and about 10,000 people. Some of the organizations that represent this group of people are very vocally opposed to mining. Two communities close to the Solaris Warintza exploration area formed a group Centro Shuar de Warints y Yawi, and they are very pro-mining. It is far from clear how this resolves or doesn't resolve for Solaris or for other companies in the Shuar Arutam region. I plan to add some basic maps to our subscribers page so everyone can see what companies may be affected by Shuar Arutam opposition to mining.

Communities to decide Ecuador mining projects’ fate
Constitutional Court of Ecuador Upholds Legal Rights of Mining Concession Holders
This news isn't from December, but this is my first Ecuador mining news update so it's worth discussing old news. The city of Cuenca will hold a referrendum to not allow mining in the watershed of the rivers that flow into it. This referrendum is expected to pass. INV metals seems most affected and they hold the position that the referrendum doesn't affect them because they already were granted some level of mining rights. That said, they are still in the permitting process and it seems far from settled if INV Metals will be grandfathered in or not allowed to go to production. Yaku Pérez is very influential in the city of Cuenca and the province of Azuay. He is also running for president of Ecuador. The presidential election is early Feb 2021, but a runoff may happen and if so would be in April 2021. Yaku Pérez is expected to lose, but even the possibility of him winning has slowed down many government mining activities until after the election. I plan to add a map to the subscribers section on the proposed mining exclusion zone.

Ecuadorian Government Provides Support for Mineral Exploration by Making Provision to Extend “Initial Exploration” Phase
This is potentially good news for mining companies in Ecuador that exploration licenses can be extended due to permitting delays. It is also a sign that the Ecuadorian government continues to be committed to improving its regulation of responsible mining development in the country.

Company News

I filtered out some less interesting company press releases down to these.

Porvenir Assay Results for Drill Hole 1
Solgold hit a really nice first hole in Porvenir.

Salazar Resources’ First Drill Hole at Los Osos Project Indicates New Gold-Copper Porphyry System
Salazar Resources Enters Letter of Intent to Acquire the Los Santos 2.1 Copper / Gold Project, El Oro, Ecuador
Salazar was busy near Lumina Gold's Congrejos project. From now on I'll refer to this up and coming area as the Congrejos district. First, Salazar's drill started turning on one of their 100% owned projects Los Osos. The first hole and a half showed good geology and mineralization, though the grades await assays.

Even before getting assay results Salazar locked up another property in the district, this one right by Congrejos itself and with good surface sampling already done.

Aurania Provides Update on Drilling in Ecuador

Aurania started drilling and their first 3 holes hit no mineralization. Holes 4 and 5 do show mineralization but are awaiting assays. Hole 6 is probably finished by now. Are they moving in the right direction towards something good that they will need to bring a second rig to or will they just move on towards one of their other targets, that's for you to decide.

Adventus and Salazar Provide Positive Progress Results From The El Domo Copper-Gold Feasibility Study
Adventus continues to advance the June 2019 El Domo PEA (Preliminary Economic Assesment) towards a final feasability study expected in the fourth quarter of 2021. They also released selected drill results from their infill and expansion drilling program. This project is a joint earn-in with Salazar.

Notes

I plan to put a full list of companies active in Ecuador on our free subscribers page and will send out an email to Latin Mining newsletter subscribers when it is uploaded.

LatinMining thinks Ecuador is one of the more exciting places for mining in the world. My plan is to put out a news update for Ecuador twice a month going forward.

Full disclosure: I am not compensated by any of the companies mentioned above. I may however invest in some mentioned companies based on my own research. I attempt to present the news as neutrally as I can. Please don't invest in any mentioned company witout doing your own research and consulting a financial professional. Like most mining companies all of these companies are risky investments.