Ecuador wants to refine its gold at home and is studying how

Tue Oct 20 2026

Ecuador wants to become a mining country and, amid regional competition for investment, the National Mining Company of Ecuador (Enami EP) is seeking to be the gateway for private capital into the sector.

BNamericas spoke with Enami EP’s general manager, María José Burgos, about the gold refinery being studied by the state company, the search for partners, and Llurimagua, its flagship project, among other topics.

BNamericas: What are Enami's priorities? What can be expected this year and what are the projections for next year?

Burgos: Under the vision of the president [of the Republic], Enami’s main objective is to consolidate large-scale projects with private investment, while retaining ownership of the concessions. In addition to attracting investment, we want to strengthen community development and environmental responsibility from the early stages.

Since this year, we have had an associativity regulation that sets clear rules for public and private investors, allowing us to develop viable negotiation strategies for both parties as partners.

BNamericas: What is the status of the project to build a gold refinery?

Burgos: With support from the private sector and international organizations, we are carrying out studies for the gold refinery and a processing plant.

The government’s vision is to turn us into a mining country. According to the Central Bank, mineral exports ranked second in the first half of 2026, which indicates that we are on the right track.

That’s why we are requesting support and financing for these studies. We want to have a plant that meets international and environmental standards, and for the companies that sign agreements with us and manage to extract ore to be able to process it in our own beneficiation plants or in the refinery.

We are working with three international organizations whose names I cannot mention because negotiations are underway. They are supporting us with the studies for construction. These studies will provide us with information on the best location, the daily processing capacity, and the appropriate scale.

BNamericas: What timeframes are you working with and when are more details expected on the characteristics of that refinery?

Burgos: The information to begin the study has already been prepared and delivered to the multilaterals, who must present us with proposals on the best option.

We have heard that in several countries there are mobile plants, in the form of containers with all the infrastructure, that can operate at the national level; that could be an option. Another option would be two small plants in strategic sectors. The market study should define it.

By the end of this year the consultant should be hired, and the study would take about two or three months, so it would be ready in the first quarter of 2027.

Hiring is carried out by the multilateral, which is in charge of the process.

BNamericas: What justifies thinking about a gold refinery now? The only large-scale gold production is that of Fruta del Norte, which handles its own gold. Two large gold projects in advanced stages will take at least three years to be built.

Burgos: Precisely because of that, we are in the preliminary phase. The studies will determine whether the volume of ore that would come from the projects and the agreements we sign justifies building it. The important thing is that we are assessing whether it is viable, and the studies will indicate that. Naturally, gold will also come from small-scale mining, not only from large-scale mining.

BNamericas: So, it wouldn’t necessarily be a large refinery?

Burgos: It is one of the possibilities. We have not ruled out any possibility and there is no defined plan: the study will set the course, including the scale of the plant and its production tonnage.

What we do not want is to wait until year five to start evaluating a processing plant or a refinery. We want to move forward at the pace of our negotiations and be able to tell international investors that they already have a place to process their material, without any issues.

BNamericas: What does the associativity regulation that currently governs the agreements signed by Enami consist of?

Burgos: The regulation establishes the modalities for partnering with Enami, for example, operating agreements, operating contracts, commercial agreements that start from a framework agreement and are finalized in specific agreements.

In the framework [agreement], a company undertakes, for example, to finance US$500 million (mn) in certain areas. The specific agreement defines the specific areas and the amount that will be invested in each one.

A month ago we signed a cooperation agreement with Boro, a company from Singapore, following conversations that the president held in that country. We are currently negotiating with several companies around the world and, for confidentiality reasons, I cannot name them.

BNamericas: What does the agreement with Boro cover? What investment does it involve and in which areas?

Burgos: Boro is reviewing Enami's portfolio to identify the areas it is interested in. The base investment amount is US$300mn. On that basis, the company would later sign the framework agreement; we expect the signing to take place at the end of this year or the beginning of next.

BNamericas: How many commercial agreements has Enami signed? Do any of them require renegotiation? Are you planning others for the remainder of the year or for 2027?

Burgos: We have four commercial agreements between those already signed and those in the process of being signed, [the latter] due to amendments to the associativity regulations that had to be applied.

For next year we have several in mind, especially because we are expecting decisions on the mapping [delimitation] of certain areas. In this administration and the previous one there have been many approaches from companies from different parts of the world that want to invest in the country through Enami.

Toward the end of the year we should sign two agreements and, in the first half of 2027, three to four more. Everything depends on the areas that interest the companies. In addition, in some areas we must carry out prior, free, and informed consultation before awarding them.

The areas are mainly copper. The two agreements that are about to be signed have already been worked on with the negotiation teams and we are reaching the final points. One is with a company with which there is already a signed agreement. The other is a specific agreement, which means that a framework agreement has already been signed.

BNamericas: How is Enami's portfolio today? Which projects could go to partnership with private companies?

Burgos: The portfolio is quite robust. It has had some variations because some projects have already exited upon signing commercial agreements, and we are requesting new areas from the ministry of Environment and Energy.

If the areas in the portfolio are not attractive to an investor, they can ask Enami for certain areas from the Mining Cadaster. Although the cadaster is closed, Enami has preferential rights and can request them from the ministry, which makes Enami more attractive because it is the link with the private sector so that it can access an area that is not in our portfolio.

Within Enami's portfolio we have areas that are very rich in minerals, including Llurimagua [copper and molybdenum], Tola Norte [iron, titanium], Muyuyacu [gold] and Sigchos [gold, copper, silver].

BNamericas: What is the status of Llurimagua? What plans and timelines do you have for this project?

Burgos: Llurimagua is one of Enami’s most emblematic projects. The government is seeking investment banks and consulting firms to define the optimal path for its international launch under our partnership regulations.

We want the process to meet standards. The entire mining sector is watching Llurimagua and we have many letters of intent from interested companies. We want to launch it with the highest standards that the project and the country require.

BNamericas: Is it still to be defined whether Enami will keep 51% of the project?

Burgos: Yes, it is yet to be defined. The 51-49 scheme mentioned in the Constitution and by the Prosecutor’s Office is one type of business model. Another option would be a contract or commercial agreement in which the area is granted to a specific company that complies with all the processes established by the regulations. There are several models. The investment bank or the consulting firm will tell us which model is the most viable, both economically and technically, and the most suitable for the country.

BNamericas: When and how will that investment bank or consulting firm be hired?

Burgos: There will be a tender. For now we are in talks with several investment banks and consulting firms, and carrying out a market study to find out which ones would be willing to take on this type of work. It will be the first time that the country holds a tender of this kind in mining.

Afterwards, those entities will present the modality they propose to Enami’s board, and from there the milestones for the project will be defined. I cannot specify whether the process will take four, five, or six months, because we are in the preparatory phase, in conversations with investment banks and consulting firms, and we still [need] to have the terms in place to put the project out to tender.

BNamericas: Llurimagua has faced strong opposition. As the project owner, is Enami already working on the social license?

Burgos: Yes. The social license is a process we must comply with, including due to court rulings and regulations. Our environmental and social department is on the ground: I ordered that it go at least once or twice a month to carry out environmental and social actions, and we maintain permanent communication with that team.

We also expect that the partner with whom we work on Llurimagua will include among its priorities the environmental and social attention required by the communities in the project’s area of influence.

BNamericas: What legal certainty can Enami offer so that mining companies’ interest in Ecuador translates into investment and not just framework agreements?

Burgos: The country is currently in the sights of the mining industry. As I already mentioned, we have the associativity regulation, which sets clear rules. It was drafted with industry standards and defines the technical, legal, commercial and negotiation aspects, with the aim of generating long-term partnerships.

BNamericas: Have tax incentives been considered to attract companies to partner with Enami?

Burgos: We are reviewing it, because the investment by a mining company is large, long-term, and often risky. We are evaluating how and under what framework to develop incentives.

Today, because it is a public company, Enami already has incentives that are not tax-related but economic: exemption from certain fees and royalties at the beginning, which would indeed have to be paid if the areas were requested through the ministry.

BNamericas: One of the problems in Latin America and in Ecuador is illegal mining. Have you had this problem in Enami areas? Are you working on any policy so that a partner does not have to deal with it or risk losing the concession due to incursions by illegal miners?

Burgos: Yes, we do have illegal mining in some of our areas, especially in the Sierra Norte, and it is being fought.

In the event that illegal mining exists and the company cannot enter the area, there is the legal concept of force majeure, which can be invoked.

Additionally, the government combats illegal mining through the Committee for Combating Illegal Mining (Conim), chaired by the president [of the Republic] and led by the secretary of Public Administration, José Julio Neira. When Enami detects illegal mining, it reports it to Conim, which coordinates the respective operations with the National Police and the Armed Forces.

Source: https://www.bnamericas.com/