Mirador mine

Mirador mine
Location
Mirador mine is located in Ecuador
Mirador mine
Mirador mine
Zamora-Chinchipe Province
CountryEcuador
Coordinates3°34′41″S 78°26′8″W / 3.57806°S 78.43556°W / -3.57806; -78.43556[1]
Production
ProductsCopper
Production137 Million lbs of copper; 34,000 oz gold; and 394,000 oz silver per year.[2]
History
Opened2019
Owner
CompanyEcuacorriente S.A. (subsidiary of CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. Ltd)
Local impacts
PollutionAcid mine drainage
Displacedover 30 Shuar families
Jobs1,200 construction; 415 operation
Developmentroad and water systems
Conflict
Contested byCONAIE and other Indigenous organisations
Resulted in2012 Ecuadorian protests
Contributed to2022 Ecuadorian protests
Lawsuit(s)Rights of nature lawsuits filed in Ecuador

The Mirador mine is a large copper mine located in the Amazonian province of Zamora-Chinchipe in southern Ecuador. It is one of the largest copper reserves in Ecuador,[1] and the first industrial-scale copper project to be developed in the country. The project has generated an environmental conflict that is emblematic in the national political debate on mining.[3]

The project is owned and operated by Ecuacorriente S.A. (ECSA), a subsidiary of the state-owned Chinese company CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. Ltd, which comprises Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co. Ltd. and China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd.[4]

Development of the Mirador mine was opposed by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), leading to the 2012 Ecuadorian protests. The first shipment of copper from the mine was exported to China in January 2020. Production at the mine was halted in June 2022 when access roads were blocked during widespread Indigenous-led protests that made several demands of the Ecuadorian government including a moratorium on oil and mining projects.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Mirador Project: Corriente Copper Belt" (PDF). Corriente Resources. 2002. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  5. ^ Valencia, Alexandra (2022-06-26). "Ecuador government, indigenous leaders hold first talks amid protests". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-07-08.