Ecuador Mining Exports Reach USD 1.381 Billion as Eight-Project Pipeline Takes Shape

Ecuador’s mining exports reached USD 1.3814 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a 65.3% increase from the same period of 2025, according to a Central Bank of Ecuador report cited by El Universo.

The sector is now Ecuador’s third-largest export category, behind oil and shrimp. The report provides a useful snapshot of the current pipeline: Fruta del Norte and Mirador are the country’s two large-scale producing mines, while six additional projects are in different exploration stages.

Export composition

The Q1 export mix was concentrated in three products:

Product	Q1 2026 value
Copper concentrate	USD 622 million
Gold minerals and concentrates	USD 407.1 million
Doré gold	USD 348.3 million

The source attributes the export increase to higher volumes and stronger international gold and copper prices, linked to geopolitical factors and industrial demand.

Total concessioned land covers 79,970 hectares across seven provinces, with the largest share in Morona Santiago.

The two producing mines

Fruta del Norte, in Zamora Chinchipe, is operated by Canada’s Lundin Gold through its subsidiary Aurelian Ecuador. Its projected total investment is USD 2.423 billion. In Q1 2026, it produced 0.5 million tonnes of material, up 19.1% from the same period of 2025.

Mirador, also in Zamora Chinchipe, is operated by China’s Ecuacorriente. Its projected total investment is USD 2.510 billion. Production reached 6.2 million tonnes between January and March 2026, up 1.5% year over year.

These are operating assets, not merely proposals. Their output and investment figures provide the current base against which Ecuador’s exploration pipeline should be measured.

The development pipeline

The San Carlos and Panantza project in Morona Santiago has an estimated life of 25 years. The report says it has six advanced-exploration concessions and seven initial-exploration concessions, all of which are suspended.

Cascabel in Imbabura is controlled by Exploraciones Novomining, a SolGold subsidiary acquired by China’s Jiangxi Copper. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with production expected in 2031. Estimated investment is approximately USD 4.209 billion.

Cangrejos in El Oro is controlled by Odin Mining, a subsidiary of China’s CMOC Group. Its expected investment is USD 1.7459 billion, with an estimated mine life of 26 years.

The project figures are estimates, not committed production. The commercial question is whether suspended or exploratory projects can move through the regulatory, social, technical, and financing gates required to become operating mines.

What to watch

The immediate indicators are export values by mineral, project-status changes, and the treatment of suspended concessions. Investors should separate current cash-generating assets from exploration-stage optionality. Ecuador’s Q1 numbers show a sector with real export weight; the pipeline shows how much of the next phase still depends on execution.

Source: El Universo