MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINING INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT IN ECUADOR

Ecuador is rich in mineral resources, with gold, copper, silver, lead-zinc and oil-gas resources that have great development potential. The country can be divided into 6 three-order tectonic zones and 12 metallogenic belts of grade Ⅲ, among which the Late Jurassic porphyry Au-Cu-Mo metallogenic belt and Oligocene-Miocene porphyry-epithermal Au-Cu metallogenic belt are the most important. Due to the low degree of geological exploration and poor development of metal minerals in Ecuador, the mining development is dominated by foreign investment. However, the copper-gold exploration has gained more and more attention in recent years. The government has lowered investment requirements by amending the mining law. In general, Ecuador has favorable conditions in resource endowment, tax policy and bilateral relations, but still disadvantages in politics and social security, which presents both opportunities and challenges for mining investment.