Ecuador's La Plata Copper-Gold Mine Approved to Advance to Underground Medium-Scale Mining Stage

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 10, Ecuador's Ministry of Energy and Mines issued a stage-change resolution to the La Plata copper-gold project owned by Canada's Atico Mining, approving the project's transition from the economic evaluation stage to the underground medium-scale mining stage and securing the key approvals required for mine construction and subsequent operations. The project is located in Sigchos Canton, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador. Atico plans to commence mine construction in the first quarter of 2027, with the construction phase expected to create more than 600 direct jobs and 1,200 to 1,800 indirect jobs.

This stage-change resolution addresses the conversion of the development method and mining stage for the La Plata mining concession, allowing the project to proceed as an underground operation at a medium-scale mine size. Under Ecuador's mining scale classification, an underground mine with a daily processing capacity of 301 to 1,000 tonnes is classified as medium-scale. The feasibility study previously completed by Atico designed a processing capacity of 850 tonnes per day, which falls within this scale range.

La Plata is a volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, with ore primarily containing copper, gold, silver and zinc. In July 2024, Atico published a final feasibility study compliant with Canada's NI 43-101 standards, with an initial probable mineral reserve of 2.51 million tonnes at average grades of 1.59% copper, 2.28 g/t gold, 30.41 g/t silver and 2.18% zinc. Copper, gold, silver and zinc are all primary metals the project plans to recover.

According to the feasibility study, the project plans to adopt underground mining methods, with a concentrator designed to process 850 tonnes of ore per day and approximately 310,250 tonnes per year, with an expected mine life of 8.1 years. The processing flowsheet uses conventional crushing, grinding and flotation processes to produce a copper bulk concentrate and zinc concentrate. Tailings are dewatered and stored on-site as filtered tailings. Under the design plan, the project is expected to produce an annual average of 9.71 million pounds of copper contained in copper concentrate, 15,929 ounces of gold, 226,300 ounces of silver and 13.25 million pounds of zinc contained in zinc concentrate.

On September 29, 2026, Atico announced a financing arrangement totaling US$111.4 million with Trafigura, comprising a US$95 million secured project financing facility and US$16.4 million in face value convertible debentures. The project financing is borrowed by its subsidiary Compañía Minera La Plata as the borrower for mine construction and development; the loan is subject to drawdown in tranches upon satisfaction of conditions precedent set out in the agreement. The convertible debentures raised net proceeds of US$16 million.

According to Atico's published employment projections, once the mine enters commercial production, it is expected to create more than 300 direct jobs and 600 to 900 indirect jobs. Project construction and operations will center on underground mining, ore processing, concentrator facilities and supporting environmental management facilities. The company currently plans to commence main construction in the first quarter of 2027.