The San Carlos Panantza mine is a large copper mine located in the south of Ecuador in Zamora-Chinchipe Province. San Carlos-Panantza is one of the largest copper reserves in Ecuador and in the world having estimated reserves of 600 million tonnes of ore grading 0.59% copper.[1] The mine is in the Corriente copper belt along with the Mirador mine. It is being developed by ExplorCobres S.A., a subsidiary of the state-owned Chinese company CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. Ltd that is also developing Mirador.
Operations were halted at San Carlos Panantza by Indigenous Shuar resistance in late 2020.[2] The mine's opposition demands consultation with Indigenous people and protection of water; foreign investment in Ecuador's mining industry has been opposed before during the 2012 Ecuadorian protests.
References
- ^ "Mirador Copper Project" (PDF). infomine.com. 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
- ^ "Strife with indigenous groups could derail Ecuador's drive to be a mining power". Reuters. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2022-07-03.