There were allot of protests concerning the Chinese copper deal. The are going to start tearing down the mountains North East of Cuenca... The Germans are next.. They want to start building man made beaches and wave pools in the Amazon rain forest... Ecuador is set to sign a contract next week that would allow Ecuacorriente to develop El Mirador copper mine, where the Chinese-owned mining company plans to invest $1.4 billion in the next five years, energy minister Wilson Pastor said on Thursday.
Ecuador has no mining industry to speak of and leftist President Rafael Correa is eager to attract investment to tap the country's big copper, gold and silver deposits and diversify the economy from its dependency on oil exports.
However, he is trying to reap high benefits from miners and negotiations with Ecuacorriente and Canada's Kinross, which plans to develop the Fruta del Norte gold project, are taking much longer than initially expected.
"With this project Ecuador will be the world leader in terms of how much revenue it will be obtaining," Pastor told reporters referring to the contract that Ecuacorriente is scheduled to sign on Monday.
"They have agreed to pay royalties in advance. Before the project starts they will give $100-million to fund social development projects in areas around the mine," he said, adding that once production starts Ecuacorriente will pay between 5% and 8% in royalties depending on copper prices.
Ecuador has no mining industry to speak of and leftist President Rafael Correa is eager to attract investment to tap the country's big copper, gold and silver deposits and diversify the economy from its dependency on oil exports.
However, he is trying to reap high benefits from miners and negotiations with Ecuacorriente and Canada's Kinross, which plans to develop the Fruta del Norte gold project, are taking much longer than initially expected.
"With this project Ecuador will be the world leader in terms of how much revenue it will be obtaining," Pastor told reporters referring to the contract that Ecuacorriente is scheduled to sign on Monday.
"They have agreed to pay royalties in advance. Before the project starts they will give $100-million to fund social development projects in areas around the mine," he said, adding that once production starts Ecuacorriente will pay between 5% and 8% in royalties depending on copper prices.
