Perpetua Resources moves closer to legacy cleanup at Stibnite Gold project in Idaho

Amanda Stutt | June 10, 2022 |

Stibnite Gold project pit. Image from Perpetua Resources.

Perpetua Resources (Nasdaq: PPTA / TSX: PPTA) is building momentum on its legacy cleanup in Idaho, and has selected IMCO Construction as a partner to begin water quality improvements in the historical Stibnite mining district this summer.


Known as Midas Gold until last year, the company moved its headquarters from Vancouver to Boise, Idaho, where it is restoring the historic brownfield site of its Stibnite Gold project.

IMCO Construction specializes in environmentally sensitive construction projects, working in remote locations throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.

The results of an independent feasibility study envision the project becoming one of the largest and highest-grade open-pit gold mines in the United States with over 4 million ounces of gold in reserve —and the country’s only primary producer of antimony, a critical and strategic mineral.

There is currently no domestic antimony source, and 90% of world supply is controlled by China, Russia and Tajikistan, a narrative becoming increasingly untenable when it comes to sourcing minerals crucial to North America’s supply chain.

The House Armed Services Committee has now included antimony briefing requirement language in their NDAA report.

“We are thrilled that Congress is taking note regarding the significance of antimony and the need for a controlled supply. Perpetua will offer the only domestically mined source of antimony and has one of the largest economic resources of antimony not controlled by Chinese,” Mckinsey Lyon, Perpetua’s VP, External Affairs, wrote in an email to MINING.COM.

Historical legacy

Water quality at the abandoned Stibnite site has been degraded by elevated levels of arsenic and antimony from millions of tonnes of unconstrained tailings and other mine waste left behind by previous operators over the last 100 years.

Perpetua has been granted permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct time critical early action cleanup activities.

“Action to improve water quality at Stibnite has been needed for decades,” said Laurel Sayer, CEO of Perpetua Resources in a media statement.

“As we break ground on the first phase of early cleanup efforts this summer, IMCO brings a track record of successfully executing complex projects safely and a set of shared values,” Sayer said.

“Isolating streams away from historically contaminated material is a first step in fulfilling our goal of leaving the area better than it is today and demonstrates that responsible partnerships with private industry can benefit the environment and people of Idaho.”

In 2021, Perpetua Resources, the EPA and USDA signed an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent giving Perpetua permission to voluntarily clean up key areas of the historical Stibnite mining district that would not otherwise be remedied by the additional legacy restoration proposed in the project.

Phase One provides a four year period to conduct “time critical” cleanup actions designed to improve water quality. The remaining phases would allow for a more comprehensive remediation of the historical mining district should the Stibnite Gold Project receive permission to proceed upon conclusion of the National Environmental Policy Act review.

Perpetua, the EPA and the U.S. Forest Service have worked together to develop a detailed scope of work for Phase One cleanup activities since signing the Agreement in early 2021.

The stream diversion work this summer is expected to include, among other initiatives, removing the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration legacy waste rock dump from within and along a tributary to the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River and restoring the original streamflow course.

In a multi-million dollar investment, the next “time critical” environmental improvements are expected to include the removal and relocation of at least 325,000 tonnes of historical tailings and mine waste away from the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River.

The Stibnite project is located approximately 92 miles by air and 144 miles by road northeast of Boise, Idaho. According to a 2014 pre-feasibility study, the project is expected to produce 388,000 ounces of gold per year for the first four years and 337,000 ounces annually over its 12-year mine life.

Recycling alone can ease raw materials supply pressure but cannot meet demand

Wood Mackenzie | June 13, 2022 |

Scrap battery metal. (Stock image)

While recycling can relieve some pressure from the supply deficit of battery raw materials, it will not be able to meet demand, says Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk business (Nasdaq:VRSK).


The electrification of the transportation sector has caused a boom in demand for lithium-ion batteries. Global cumulative lithium-ion battery capacity could rise over five-fold to 5,500 gigawatt-hour (GWh) between 2021 and 2030.

Speaking at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Mainz today, Wood Mackenzie research analyst Max Reid said: “With rapid expansion in the battery supply chain, we have created a situation of high waste. Recycling can reduce rapid expansion in carbon intensive mines as well as reduce waste. Together, recycling production scrap and end of life batteries could become a substantial source of raw material to meet surging demand. Recycling also presents an opportunity to source materials in regions which lack natural resources.”

Currently demand for key battery raw materials stands at 97 kilotonnes (kt) for lithium, 186 kt cobalt and 3,014 kt nickel. By 2030, these are expected to grow to 318 kt, 264 kt and 4,273 kt, respectively. Supply from recycled materials, though paling in comparison, are expected to reach 130 kt for lithium, 112 kt cobalt and 377 kt nickel, respectively, by the end of the decade.

At present, the challenges of recycled battery raw materials seem insurmountable. Most of the discussion has been around the collection and recycling of end-of-life electric vehicles (EVs), but the process is plagued with challenges.

Firstly, the cathode, which contains critical metals in the EV pack, is overpackaged with pack materials such as casings, interconnects, cooling channels and others. The result is a tedious recycling process with little value. Coupled with an industry push to use lower value materials, the move towards larger-sized EV packs is also a deterrence against recycling due to lower throughput while containing lower value materials.

Secondly, EV packs have long warranties and lifetimes. Recovering critical metals from them will be a long-term affair. In addition, the emergence of second-use applications, like residential or industrial energy storage, will also keep end-of-life EVs from entering the recycling system.

As such, recycling production scrap will be the main source of recycled material this decade. China, Europe and North America will see huge increases in battery and cathode manufacturing to meet demand for batteries. Globally, Wood Mackenzie expects battery manufacturing capacity to grow 3.5 times to over 4,621 gigawatt-hours by 2030, with China leading way ahead. This presents an increasing market for production scrap.

“At the end of the day, the amount of production scrap or EVs coming to end of life will never be able to meet demand while demand continues to increase,” Reid said. “There needs to be a push in expanding virgin sourcing while maximising the recycling sector to ease the deficit.”

PDAC

Hundreds gather to protest world’s largest mining convention

| APTN News

Jun 13, 2022

Demonstrators gathered in the busy streets of downtown Toronto to protest the world’s largest mining convention. The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network organized the event and hundreds of people gathered with signs and flags as an act of solidarity.

Canada must overcome hurdles in ‘urgent’ critical minerals push

Bloomberg News | June 13, 2022 

Highland Valley Copper operation in British Columbia. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources).

The global clean-energy transition offers metals-rich Canada a “generational economic opportunity,” as long as the mining industry can get past some key hurdles, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said.


Wilkinson highlighted Canada’s resource strengths and stability at Monday’s opening ceremonies of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference.

Canada produces more than 60 minerals and metals, has more than 200 mines and is home to almost half of the world’s publicly listed mining and minerals exploration companies. Notably, he said, the country holds deposits of 31 critical minerals that will be “in greatest demand” as the world shifts to cleaner energy sources.

“There are still some barriers that we need to overcome in Canada if we are to capitalize on these emerging opportunities to capture market share and meet our climate action targets,” he said in a speech. “For example, going forward, it simply cannot be the case that it takes up to 15 years to develop and bring into production a new mine.”

Wilkinson noted “uniquely Canadian challenges in ramping up production” as he underscored the need to develop “end-to-end supply chains” for such key metals. Canada’s government, for its part, has earmarked C$3.8 billion ($3 billion) in its federal budget to implement a new critical minerals strategy over eight years.

“As we transition to cleaner, mineral intensive forms of energy, democratic countries are going to need access to stable and secure sources of critical minerals,” Wilkinson said. “Clearly, rapid development of these sources is urgently required.”

(By Doug Alexander)

Ryanair faces six-day strike in Spain during holiday season

Spanish trade unions call for flight crews to walk out from June 24 to July 2 to demand better work conditions.

Ryanair is the only international airline that does not have a collective bargaining agreement that defines workplace conditions for its Spanish employees 

[File: Peter Nicholls/Reuters] Published On 13 Jun 2022

Spanish trade unions have called on staff at low-cost airline Ryanair to hold a six-day strike at the start of the holidays, the latest action by aviation industry workers to demand better conditions in Europe.

The planned work stoppage could cause more travel headaches in Europe, where strikes and shortages of staff have hit a sector that has started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ryanair to keep ‘racist’ Afrikaans test for S African passengers

Monday’s call for flight crews to walk out from June 24 to July 2 aims to push Ireland’s Ryanair to reach a deal that “guarantees decent work conditions for all personnel” at the airline, the USO and SITCPLA unions said in a joint statement.

Ryanair is the only international airline that does not have a collective bargaining agreement that defines workplace conditions for its Spanish employees, according to the trade unions.

It finally agreed to negotiate with trade unions eight months ago, but ended talks after reaching a deal, which includes minimum pay and flight hours previsions, with one union that does not have a majority among the flight crew.

The USO and SITCPLA unions believe that the agreement is insufficient and does not respect Spanish labour law.

Boom in demand

The strike would come as summer holidays get under way in European countries and a recovery in air travel following the lifting of most COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The boom in demand has caught short some airlines and airports that shed staff during the pandemic and that are having trouble rehiring employees as well as facing demands for wage hikes and better working conditions.

Staff shortages have disrupted flights in London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt in recent weeks.

Strikes at Paris’s main airport on Thursday led to a quarter of flights being grounded, runways closed and passengers delayed.


Nearly 1,000 SAS pilots have threatened to go on indefinite strike from the end of June after talks broke down with the Scandinavian airline.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES /AL JAZEERA

Ryanair staff in Spain to strike for six days in June

Airline says it does not expect widespread disruption and claims most crew members will not support the planned industrial action


A Ryanair plane at an airport in Spain where two trade unions representing cabin crew have voted to go on strike for six days. 

Photograph: Bryan O'Brien

By Ian Curran

Mon Jun 13 2022 

Two Spanish trade unions representing cabin crew at Ryanair have voted to hold six days of strike action later this month in a move that could disrupt the travel plans of many passengers.

Spanish-based staff represented by the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from June 24th to June 26th, and from June 30th to July 2nd.

Describing the announcements as “a distraction”, Ryanair claimed that most crew would not support the planned industrial action and that it would have little impact on its schedule.

“Ryanair has negotiated collective agreements covering 90 per cent of our people across Europe,” a Ryanair spokesperson said in a statement. “In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase. Those negotiations are going well, and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.”

The spokesman added: “In Spain we are pleased to have reached a collective agreement with CCOO, Spain’s largest and most representative union, delivering improvements for Spanish-based cabin crew and reinforcing Ryanair’s commitment to the welfare of its cabin crew. Recent announcements by the much smaller USO and SITCPLA unions are a distraction from their own failures to deliver agreements after three years of negotiations, and we believe that their strike calls will not be supported by our Spanish crews.”

So far the airline, Europe’s biggest by passenger numbers, has escaped much of the turmoil affecting its rivals, particularly EasyJet in the UK, and said it has not cancelled any flights because of its own staffing issues. However, the Spanish unions now appear to be fixed on action, largely to pursue increases to basic salaries after cuts during the pandemic.


The general secretary of USO’s Ryanair section, Lidia Arasanz, said: “We have to resume mobilisation so that the reality of our situation is known and Ryanair is forced to abide by basic labour laws.”

The unions, speaking in Madrid, said they would look to co-ordinate action with other unions representing Ryanair staff in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal, according to Bloomberg.

Despite its assurances Ryanair has previously been forced to cancel hundreds of flights through industrial action by its staff, with the two years before the pandemic marked by disruptive walkouts, including UK pilot strikes in 2019 that followed crew walkouts across Europe in 2018.

The airline operates out of more than 20 airports, including nine bases, in Spain, with more than 70 domestic routes as well as the large international tourist trade. – Additional reporting by The Guardian

German union calls on steel workers to hold further warning strikes

Reuters | June 11, 2022 | 

Industrial worker in Germany. 

(Reference image by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, Wikimedia Commons).

German union IG Metall called on Saturday for steel workers to hold further warning strikes after employers failed to meet its wage increase demands in the third round of talks.


The action is set to begin on Monday, a day before talks are due to resume. Similar strikes took place earlier this month.

IG Metall, which is demanding an 8.2% pay rise for workers, on Friday rejected an offer by employers for a 4.7% increase for 21 months.

“The steel industry is making a lot of money right now. Employees want their fair share of that,” said Knut Giesler, head of IG Metall in North-Rhine Westphalia and leader of negotiations in northwest Germany.

Steelmakers such as Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter and ArcelorMittal, which profited from high prices during the pandemic, are facing rising energy and raw material costs.

(By Tom Sims; Editing by Mike Harrison)

POSCO to halt some plants as S.Korea trucker strike continues

Reuters | June 12, 2022 |

(Image by POSCO).

South Korean steelmaker POSCO said on Sunday will halt some of its plants in the country due to a lack of space to store finished products, which have not been shipped due to a strike by truckers who are demanding higher pay as fuel prices surge.


POSCO follows automaker Hyundai Motor in cutting production lines as the strike by thousands of truckers disrupted cargo transport at the country’s industrial hubs and major ports.

“Some production at our Pohang steel plants is set for suspension, and we are not yet certain how long this suspension will last,” a POSCO spokesperson said, adding that the halt will take effect from Monday.

The decision came as the government and the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union were holding a fourth round of meetings to find a compromise and end the strike, which began on June 7.

South Korea is a major supplier of semiconductors, smartphones, autos, batteries and electronics goods. The strike has deepened uncertainty over global supply chains already disrupted by China’s strict Covid-19 curbs and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As ports worldwide struggle with supply bottlenecks, a slowdown in chip production, petrochemicals and autos threatens South Korea’s mainstay exports, and consumer inflation in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy is at a 14-year high.

The truckers are demanding an extension to subsidies, set to expire this year, that guarantee minimum wages as fuel prices rise.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it responded to the union by explaining “that ship owners, the party of interest, demand the current Safe Trucking Freight Rates System be abolished”.

A joint statement from a total of 31 industry associations on Sunday urged truckers to end their strike and return to work, as bottlenecks are building up across industries including cement, petrochemical, steel, auto and IT components.

“This lengthening strike by the Cargo Solidarity is nothing more than putting up a fight in an extreme way by holding national logistics as a hostage, even as the government has said it will find a way for inclusive growth through talks,” associations representing employers, taxis, semiconductors, automobiles and others said in the statement.

Around 40 people have been arrested in the strike, some later released. The actions have been largely peaceful, though tense at some locations.

The ministry estimated some 6,600 truckers, or 30% of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union members, were on strike on Saturday, halting trucking activities at petrochemical complexes in Ulsan and slowing product deliveries for POSCO.

The union says the number of those striking was higher, without specifying a number, and that non-union truckers were also choosing not to work.

Container traffic at Busan port, which accounts for 80% of the nation’s total, had plunged by two-thirds from normal levels on Friday, a government official said.

At Incheon port it has fallen 80%, while at the port for Ulsan, the industrial hub where much of the strike action has occurred, container traffic has been halted since Tuesday.

(By Cynthia Kim, Heekyong Yang, Byungwook Kim and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by William Mallard, Jacqueline Wong and Louise Heavens)

Copper more effective than silver in killing covid virus

Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | June 12, 2022 |

The material a surface is made of affects how long viruses and bacteria can remain contagious on it. 

(Image courtesy of Ruhr-University Bochum).

Researchers at Ruhr-University Bochum investigated ways to make copper and silver release even more ions than they normally would as a result of corrosion, a process that helps prevent the growth of bacteria or kill them completely.


In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the scientists describe the use of a so-called sputtering system with which the thinnest layers or tiny nanopatches of the metals can be applied to a carrier material.

Depending on the sequence or quantity in which the individual metals are applied, different surface textures are created. If a precious metal such as platinum is also applied, silver corrodes even faster and releases more antibacterial ions.

“In the presence of a more noble metal, the baser metal sacrifices itself, so to speak,” researcher Alfred Ludwig said in a media statement. This phenomenon is called the principle of the sacrificial anode.

The effectiveness of such sacrificial anode systems against bacteria has already been demonstrated. However, whether viruses can also be rendered harmless in this way has not yet been investigated in detail.

“This is why we analysed the antiviral properties of surfaces coated with copper or silver as well as various silver-based sacrificial anodes, and also examined combinations of copper and silver with regard to possible synergistic effects,” virologist Stephanie Pfänder said.

The team compared the effectiveness of these surfaces against bacteria with the effectiveness against viruses.

Surfaces with sacrificial anode effect, especially nanopatches consisting of silver and platinum as well as the combination of silver and copper, efficiently stopped bacterial growth.

Yet, a different picture emerged with SARS-CoV-2: thin copper layers significantly reduced the viral load after only one hour. On the other hand, sputtered silver surfaces had only a marginal effect, and silver nanopatches did not impress the virus either.

“In conclusion, we demonstrated a clear antiviral effect of copper-coated surfaces against SARS-CoV-2 within one hour, while silver-coated surfaces had no effect on viral infectivity,” Pfänder said.

A system for the reversible hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into formic acid

by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

Credit: Wei et al.

In recent years, engineers have developed a growing number of alternative energy solutions that source electricity sustainably from sunlight, water, wind, hydrogen and other natural resources. For these technologies to fully substitute existing energy solutions, however, the energy they produce will need to be reliably stored and distributed on a large-scale.

Researchers at Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse and APEX Energy Teterow GmbH have recently introduced a new strategy that could aid the storage of chemical energy, particularly hydrogen. In their paper, published in Nature Energy, they outline a system for the reversible hydrogenation of CO2 to formic acid, which employs a Mn-pincer complex as a homogeneous catalyst.

"To transform our current energy system into a more sustainable one, it is important to develop technologies that allow for a practical and efficient storage of renewable energy (wind, photovoltaic, etc.)," Matthias Beller, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. "While the storage of electrons on a large scale is difficult, the storage of chemical energy carriers is easier."

In their previous studies, Beller and his colleagues introduced the idea that formic acid (FA), a simple carboxylic acid that is known to be contained in bee venom and other natural materials, could be a good hydrogen carrier. They showed that FA can be generated from CO2, as well as what is known as "green hydrogen" (i.e., hydrogen produced by splitting water intro hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy technology).

Credit: Wei et al.

"If energy is needed FA can be easily dehydrogenated under mild conditions and provides electricity on demand in well-established PEM fuel cells," Beller explained. "Parallel to the release of hydrogen, normally CO2 is also released, due to its gaseous nature. Hence, when you want to generate the hydrogen carrier back, you need carbon dioxide again."

The new system for the hydrogenation of CO2 introduced by Beller, Henrik Junge, Peter Sponholz and their colleagues, does not require CO2 again once the first charging process is completed. In fact, its design ensures that the CO2 remains in the reaction medium, which eliminates the need for additional CO2.

The researchers' system relies on the use of a Manganese (Mn)-based pincer complex and L-lysine, an essential α-amino acid.

"We were surprised to find that the combination L-lysine and Mn pincer catalysts allows for hydrogenation of CO2 in the air with extremely high efficiency," Beller said. "In this process, initially the amino functions of L-lysine bind to CO2 , forming as so-called carbamic acid derivative, which is in equilibrium with the corresponding bicarbonate. Hydrogenation of the activated CO2 leads to the formation of FA, and by lowering the pressure hydrogen can be released from the system."

Credit: Wei et al.

The researchers evaluated their system in a series of tests and showed that it attained highly promising results. Notably, they found that both the Mn catalyst and L-lysine had a good stability and could be used again numerous times. Overall, their system attained a total turnover number of 2,000,000 for CO2 hydrogenation and of 600,000 for FA dehydrogenation.

When they used potassium lysinate, the researchers achieved an H2 evolution efficiency above 80% and a CO2 retention of over 99.9% over ten charge and discharge cycles, without having to re-load CO2 between these cycles. The team also found that this reversible hydrogenation process could be scaled up considerably, without significantly reducing the system's productivity.

"An interesting finding of our work is the analogy between hydrogen storage systems and traditional electric batteries," Beller said. "In a typical rechargeable battery, electrons can be added and released under very mild (ambient) conditions. In principle, the same is true for hydrogen storage materials if the reaction system is designed in an appropriate manner."

Credit: Wei et al.

In the future, the system for the reversible hydrogenation of CO2 to FA introduced by this team of researchers could help to store green hydrogen more efficiently. This could contribute to the large-scale implementation of fuel cells and other hydrogen-based sustainable technologies.

"For the 'hydrogen battery,' we now would like to improve the energy content of the system by generating methanol instead of FA," Beller added. "In addition, we want to improve the practicability of such a system by performing charging/decharging steps in an automatic manner."

New biobattery for hydrogen storage

More information: Duo Wei et al, Reversible hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to formic acid using a Mn-pincer complex in the presence of lysine, Nature Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01019-4

Journal information: Nature Energy 

© 2022 Science X Network

Ontario developer finds massive cache of pure synthetic graphite at planned housing site

Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | June 12, 2022 | 

Graphite. (Reference image by Robert M. Lavinsky, Wikimedia Commons).

When developer King & Benton Holdings acquired the former Union Carbide synthetic graphite manufacturing facility in Welland, Ontario, the last thing management thought was that they were going to end up joining the battery metals space.


The idea was to create a new community that included a mix of residential, prestige industrial and commercial spaces in the 178-acre brownfield site. But in the process of executing the environmental due diligence on the property, the team doing the fieldwork discovered a 500,000-tonne cache of pure synthetic graphite, remnants from the site’s industrial past.

Plans changed swiftly and a new company was born, ReGen Resource Recovery.

Using King & Benton’s experience in aggregate processing, the nascent firm will focus on refining the existing stockpile of graphite with the goal of supplying the North American market.

Established in 1907, the Union Carbide plant in Welland produced ferrosilicon for the steel industry. (Image by the Welland Historical Museum, courtesy of ReGen).

“We are planning on initial separation and stockpiling 2,000 tonnes daily from the graphite deposit. This material will be processed for end-users at the new ReGen Resource processing facility to be located in a recently acquired 250,000-square-feet facility adjacent to the graphite deposit,” Steve Charest, president and CEO of the King and Benton group of companies, told MINING.COM.

“We will have equipment that can both micronize and shape ReGen material if needed and spheroidize imported natural graphite. Initial micronizing capacity will be 35,000 tonnes annually starting in 2024.”

Charest pointed out that plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100,000 tonnes per year allowing for the additional processing of imported natural graphite. The raw material would be acquired once relationships, partnerships or acquisitions have been established with mining companies and importers who could benefit from ReGen’s processing capabilities.

Demand for the final product is expected to arise from companies requiring high-grade synthetic graphite for batteries, as well as from other industrial applications that seek an alternative to the current Chinese-dependent supply chain.

Chile and Ecuador restart copper talks after yearslong impasse

Bloomberg News | June 12, 2022 | 

Ecuador Energy and Mines Minister Xavier Vera. (Image from Vera’s Twitter profile).

After a yearslong deadlock, Ecuador and Chile have resumed negotiations over a partnership to develop a major copper deposit just as demand for the wiring metal is set to surge in a nascent clean-energy transition.


Chile’s state copper producer Codelco agreed to a request by its Ecuadorian counterpart Enami to suspend two arbitration processes over the Llurimagua copper-molybdenum exploration project in the Andean region of Imbabura, Ecuador Energy and Mines Minister Xavier Vera said.

“That suspension generated positive conditions for talks,” Vera said Sunday in an interview from Toronto, where he’s heading a delegation at the PDAC mining conference. “We have opened a line of contact with the highest executives at Codelco.”

Citing a confidentiality agreement, Vera declined to offer any details of the “excellent conversations,” or the likely timing of the project, which he said probably contains much more than the initial estimates. The project recently won a court battle over its environmental impact.

Environmentalists oppose the development of Llurimagua, which they say will cause irreparable damage to the pristine, heavily forested Intag Valley.

The resumption of Llurimagua talks comes as Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso looks to resolve the permitting bottlenecks and tense community relations that have held back development in the mineral-rich nation.

The administration is moving forward with development of a mining registry or cadastre, Vera said. It’s also working on a new competitive system of awarding exploration permits; introducing the right of free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples with regard to new projects; and planning regulation for companies’ minimum procedures for dealing with communities, he said.

Mining generated about $2.1 billion in export revenue for Ecuador last year, double 2020 levels, and is projected to reach $10 billion by 2030. There’s a handful of projects getting close to the development stage, while Southern Copper Corp.’s giant Ruta del Cobre project isn’t too far behind. The Mirador operation is set to expand and Solaris Resources Inc. is progressing with its Warintza project.

Vera described it as “a very special moment” for Ecuador, despite some citizen resistance to large-scale mining in regions including Azuay.

As mining projects around the world get trickier and pricier to find and develop, more companies are taking a serious look at Ecuador. They include Barrick Gold Corp. and Peru’s Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SAA, he said. Vera was also about to sit down with London-based heavyweight Rio Tinto Group: “I’m sure they are interested,” he said.

(By James Attwood and Stephan Kueffner)