Ecuador mineral exports could fall by some 20% this year, says official
Mining exports were worth $3.3 billion for Ecuador in 2023.
Lundin Mining Corporation (TSX:LUN) shed more than 3% on Wednesday after announcing that it does not intend to exercise its option to acquire a controlling interest in Touro copper project in northern Spain.
A detailed due diligence program showed that the project in the La Coruna province would not provide sufficient economic returns to meet its investment criteria, Lundin announced.
“Despite the diligent efforts of our team and the cooperation of the authorities, the local community and the owners of the Project, we unfortunately are not able to progress with the Touro project,” said CEO Paul Conibear.
By the close the $2.8 billion miner was trading down 3.4% at $4.79 on the Toronto big board, near its lowest for the day and underperforming the TSX S&P Global Mining index which added 0.35% on Wednesday.
Owned by private investors, Touro produced copper until 1986. The $80 million deal announced in April would’ve given the Toronto-based company 80% of the project. Without its own large-scale copper project in the pipeline, Lundin may be looking at other acquisitions given its $300 million cash in the bank.
