Drilling is focused on two targets comprising shallow, highly conductive electromagnetic anomalies.
The net profit was 65% higher than in the first quarter, when it totaled $1.68 billion.
The company's El Domo-Curipamba project represents Ecuador's next big mine after Mirador and Lundin's Fruta del Norte.
A total of 12 companies have submitted proposals to develop a lithium project in Chile's Altoandinos salt flats.