Ecuador sets 2026 tender for $3B Llurimagua

Ecuador’s state miner Empresa Nacional Minera (Enami) plans to launch an international tender in 2026 for the Llurimagua copper-molybdenum project after Chile’s Codelco exited their partnership and an arbitration case concluded in July.

The $3 billion (C$4.1 billion) Llurimagua, in Imbabura province about 80 km northeast of Quito, is to produce roughly 210,000 tonnes of copper per year over a 27-year mine life from a 982-million-tonne resource.

Enami and Codelco advanced exploration and economic studies and signed a shareholder agreement in 2015. By 2019, the partners had agreed definitive terms to form a company that would give Enami 51% and Codelco 49%, but the joint venture was never incorporated, in part because Enami could not finance its share of development costs. Enami had said it intended to auction its 51% stake once the company was formed.

Relations deteriorated after Ecuador reformed its mining law in 2020, threatening Codelco’s rights over about 426 sq. km of exploration ground. Cooperation halted in 2021 when Codelco filed for international arbitration. The dispute concluded in July with the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce rejecting Codelco’s claims for more than $567 million in damages and awarding $25.3 million, below the roughly $40 million Codelco said it invested.

Copper dealmaking

The timing may favour Enami as interest in large copper growth projects accelerates. In April, China’s CMOC Mining agreed to acquire Lumina Gold (TSXV: LUM) for C$581 million to gain the Cangrejos gold-copper project in Ecuador. A final exploitation contract remains unsigned despite a 2024 agreement on key fiscal terms, including a sliding gold royalty, a 4% copper royalty and a $25 million prepayment, with final clauses expected by January.

Earlier this month, China’s Jiangxi Copper made a third improved $1.1-billion bid for Ecuador-focused SolGold (LON: SOLG), representing a 42.9% premium, as it advances the Cascabel copper-gold project outlined in a 2024 prefeasibility study as a 28-year operation averaging 123,000 tonnes a year copper, 277,000 oz. a year gold and 794,000 oz. a year silver, with peak copper output of 216,000 tonnes a year.

Australia’s Fortescue (ASX: FMG) has also agreed to buy Peru-focused Alta Copper (TSX: ATCU) for C$139 million to secure the Cañariaco project, which could produce 134,000 tonnes a year of copper, 61,000 oz. a year of gold and 1.2 million oz. a year of silver in concentrate.

Permitting

Llurimagua faces hurdles beyond ownership. Environmental groups overturned a 2014 environmental licence, citing violations of nature-rights provisions and inadequate consultation.

Enami says the concession covers 482.9 sq. km, with advanced drilling limited to an operational area of about 7 sq. km.

Enami plans to frame bid terms and a process for a 2026 tender to find a development partner. The project’s scale and resource base offer leverage to a tightening copper market, but success will depend on a clear permitting and consultation roadmap following the licence reversal, fiscal certainty on royalties and the state take and partner confidence to finance a multi-billion-dollar build in Ecuador.