The mineral resources that characterize the High Andes of Peru are conspicuously absent north of the Huancabamba Gap, the altitudinal low point in the Andes linked to the deflection zone that created the Amazon Rift Valley. There is, however, an unusual mountain range located east of the Cordillera Oriental on the border between Peru and Ecuador. The Cordillera del Condor is a fold and thrust belt created in one of the earlier phases of the Andean orogeny when magmatic plutons were intruded into older sedimentary strata that created copper porphyries with significant mineral resources. There are several mines under development, but the most advanced is the Mirador Project, which will exploit an estimated 3.1 million tonnes of copper, 3.2 million ounces of gold and 25 million ounces of silver. This is Ecuador’s first industrial-scale open-pit mine and will include a processing facility that will convert the ore into a concentrate. The mine, which has a projected lifespan of thirty years, is being developed with Chinese capital and will generate billions of dollars in royalty and tax revenues, while contributing to the balance of payments equation that motivates finance ministries. There are four other copper mines and two industrial-scale gold mines under development. On the Peruvian side of the border, wild-cat gold miners are active, but there are no economically significant reserves of copper or other base metals. The copper porphyries in the Northern Andes Ecuador and Southern Colombia are renowned for their volcanoes that are commonly associated with copper and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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