Ecuador eyes 2026 tender for $3B Llurimagua copper project

Ecuador’s state mining company Enami plans to launch an international tender in 2026 for the $3 billion Llurimagua copper-molybdenum project after Chile’s Codelco exited the joint venture.

Llurimagua, in Imbabura province about 80 km northeast of Quito, could produce roughly 210,000tpa of copper over a 27-year mine life from a 982-million-tonne resource. Enami initially advanced the project with Codelco, which completed exploration and economic studies and signed a shareholder agreement in 2015, later confirming it had met agreed milestones.

The partners reached definitive terms in 2019, which would have given Enami 51% and Codelco 49%, but they never incorporated the joint venture, in part because Enami could not finance its share of development costs. Enami had said it would 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 42,600 hectares of exploration ground, and cooperation between the two state-run companies came to a halt in 2021, when Codelco filed for international arbitration. 

The dispute concluded in July 2025, 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.

Coppermania

The timing may favour Enami as interest in copper development projects continues to accelerate. China’s CMOC Mining acquired in April Lumina Gold for C$581 million to gain the Cangrejos gold-copper project in Ecuador, although 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 2026.

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

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

Llurimagua still faces hurdles beyond ownership, including opposition from environmental groups that overturned a 2014 environmental licence, citing violations of nature rights and inadequate consultation. Enami says the concession covers 4,829 hectares, with advanced drilling limited to an operational area of about 700 hectares.