The South American country Ecuador, dependent on its oil supplies, was exposed to the vulnerability caused by the Covid. The country witnessed a decline in the economy as soon as the Covid shook the oil prices. The global oil crisis had already sped up problems in the area, which provides about 15% of the world’s oil supplies.
Ecuador’s considered to have a high geological potential, and there’s not even a doubt about it. The country’s northern region, where it shares a border with Colombia, is reported to have a wealth of mineral resources that can place a booster on the country’s stability.
The Good News
Ecuador’s sluggish economy received good news when a mining project took a start in northern Ecuador. The country’s government reported the Cascabel mining project to be among the world’s largest copper, gold, and silver mines.
SolGold, an Australian mining firm, is in charge of the Cascabel project. Ecuador has been seen as too tough for most large miners, leaving little businesses like SolGold to explore an area that is an extended version of the rich copper belt that runs through the Andes, through Peru and Chile.
The Alpala mineral deposit, located in the Cascabel area, has the potential to become the world’s biggest underground silver mine, third-largest gold mine, and sixth-largest copper mine. Similarly, another great Warintza Project led by a multi-asset company Solaris Resources is located in Southeastern Ecuador.
What Does the Data Show?
According to the data, Ecuador’s ambitious mining project is projected to have 10.9 million tonnes of copper, over 23 million ounces of gold, and 92.2 million ounces of silver in Alpala’s measured and indicated mineral resources. Moreover, according to the analysis, the project may run for 49 to 66 years utilizing underground mining activities.
Geographical Location
The Alpala deposit is the top focus in the Cascabel project, which is located on the northern end of the richly resourced Andean Copper Belt, which is recognized as the source of approximately half of the world’s copper extraction. The project region has Eocene-aged mineralization, the same age as other Tier 1 deposits in Chile’s and Peru’s Andean Copper Belt to the south. The project hub is in Rocafuerte in the Cascabel project in Northern Ecuador, at about 180 km of drive in the north of Quito on a sealed highway near the power supply, water, and pacific ports.
Colombia and Ecuador have the greatest opportunity for a major discovery because of a lack of exploration. The exploration of copper-gold assets proves the geological potential. The Australian miner has claimed in the past that its operation in Ecuador is one of the world’s greatest copper-gold porphyry systems. On the other hand, Solaris Resources Inc is also working tirelessly on its Warintza project to claim its potential.
The Bottom Line
Ecuador has recently drawn a rush of interest from large miners eager to expand their copper extraction. The highly conductive metal is in great supply for use in renewable energy and electric cars, but large, fresh deposits are difficult to obtain. The country has been attempting to convert from an exploratory mining hub to a mining exporter. And the Alpala project can undoubtedly make it a reality for the country.
