Zamora Chinchipe

Ecuador's mining future concentrates in Zamora Chinchipe—Fruta del Norte (6.8-10M oz gold, Latin America's largest underground gold mine) and Mirador (first large-scale copper mine) together promise $1B+ annual exports. The province sits at the center of the Corriente Copper Belt, where geological fortune created mineral wealth that no governance structure has yet learned to share equitably.

Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte began production in 2019; EcuaCorriente's Chinese-owned Mirador followed in 2020. Combined investment for 2024 exceeded $200M. Cascabel entered exploitation phase in 2024. The provincial economy transformed from subsistence agriculture to mining services overnight. Lundin's $1.9M conservation partnership with Conservation International covers 64,000 hectares—an attempt to prove mining and biodiversity can coexist.

But illegal mining exploded alongside formal operations. The Southern Amazon Corridor (Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago) became organized crime territory; governmental abandonment and border proximity allowed artisanal gold to merge with criminal logistics. Gang violence in 2024 didn't spare mining zones.

2026 trajectory: Lundin expands exploration seeking "another large gold deposit." Formal mining revenue compounds while illegal extraction persists. The province tests whether industrial mining can deliver development or merely concentrates wealth—and whether conservation partnerships represent genuine protection or greenwashing.