Ecuador and Chile have resumed negotiation to jointly develop a major copper mine after a years-long stalemate.

At the same time,the demand for base metals will surge in the emerging clean energy transition.

Chile's national copper producer Codelco agreed to a request by Ecuador's Enami to suspend two arbitration proceedings over the Llurimagua copper-molybdenum exploration project in the Imbabura Andes region, Ecuador's Energy and Mines Minister Xavier Vera said.

“The suspension created a positive condition for negotiations,”Vera said in an interview in Toronto on Sunday.

“We have established contacts with Codelco's top management.”

Conservationists have previously opposed the development of Llurimagua, arguing that the move would cause irreparable damage to the pristine, thick-forest valley.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso hopes to resolve licensing bottlenecks and strained community relations that are holding back the mineral-rich country.

The government is moving forward with the development of a mining registry or cadastre, Vera said. 

It is also developing a new competitive exploration licensing system, introducing the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent for new projects.

Last year, mining generated about $2.1 billion in export earnings for Ecuador , double what it was in 2020, and is expected to reach $10 billion by 2030. 

A handful of projects are nearing the development stage, including Southern Copper's Ruta del Cobre project, Solaris Resources' Warintza project, and so on.

Vera describes Ecuador as  “a very special moment”,though some citizens oppose large-scale mining in some areas.

As the finding and exploitation mining projects around the world have become trickier and more expensive, more and more companies are taking Ecuador seriously. 

These companies include Barrick Gold and Peru's SAA. 

Ecuador indicated that it will also communicate with LiZhan in the near future.