ECUADOR Trends and Developments Contributed by: Roque Bernardo Bustamante and Claudia Bustamante, Flor Bustamante Pizarro & Hurtado
ties are actively being carried out. In June 2025, the government introduced a new regulation that imposed additional payments per hectare, increasing the finan - cial burden on concession holders. This measure has had a significant impact on the sector. Several compa - nies have decided to stop exploration altogether and withdraw from concessions, while others have chosen to pay the new contribution only on areas where they already have a discovery or some material interest. The result has been a diminishment in exploration activity, as companies focus their resources on proven projects rather than speculative exploration. ENAMI EP’s commercial agreements Nevertheless, the Ecuadorian government has sought to promote a new mechanism for exploration and obtaining new mining concessions through com - mercial agreements with ENAMI EP, the state-owned mining company. Because ENAMI EP is a state- owned company and mineral resources in Ecuador are legally considered property of the State, ENAMI is not restricted by the closure of the national mining cadastre. While the cadastre has been closed since 2018 for all private entities, ENAMI EP retains a prefer - ential right under current regulations to apply for min - ing concessions directly to the Ministry of Environ - ment and Energy. In practice, this means that although the cadastre remains closed to private companies, ENAMI can continue to request and obtain conces - sions, making it the sole channel through which new mining rights may be accessed in Ecuador. On 26 April 2023, ENAMI EP issued the Regulation Governing the Procedure for the Execution of Com - mercial Agreements (the “Regulation”, which was sub - sequently amended on 21 June 2023. The Regulation authorises ENAMI EP to seek commercial partners in order to develop mining projects, both in concessions already under ENAMI EP’s ownership and in new con - cessions that are requested by ENAMI and granted by the Ministry of Environment and Energy. Under these agreements, the commercial partner assumes the risk, cost and expense of exploration, with the possibility of a future assignment and full transfer of mining rights. Internal and external initiatives The Regulation contemplates both external and internal initiatives for the subscription of commercial
agreements. External initiatives consist of proposals submitted by third parties (any company), who must present a letter of intent to ENAMI. This letter must include detailed information such as: • the geographic location of the project and co-ordi - nates of the areas of interest; • the total surface area (which must not exceed 40,000 hectares for medium or large-scale mining, divided into concessions of no more than 5,000 hectares each, or 300 hectares for small-scale min - ing); • the general objective of the project; • the amount of investment allocated to each con - cession; and • documentation that evidences the company’s experience in the sector and its mineral focus. If ENAMI EP determines that the proposal is viable, based on technical, economic and legal reports, its exploration management team will prepare the tech - nical bases for the bidding process and initiate the process of selecting the best economic offer. The proponent of the external initiative, if compliant with the requirements, will be granted the status of first bidder within the bidding process. Internal initiatives, by contrast, are those promoted directly by ENAMI EP, based on concessions already held by ENAMI EP. In these cases, the selection of the commercial partner is also carried out through a bidding process seek - ing to find the best economic offer. This ensures that whether the initiative originates externally or internally, the mechanism remains competitive and transparent. Bidding Process The bidding process for the best economic offer is central to the Regulation. ENAMI EP prepares the terms of the competition, which must include: • technical, economic, financial and legal require - ments; • the process schedule; • the evaluation and qualification system; and • applicable disqualifications. ENAMI EP then issues an open call, inviting national and foreign legal entities, whether state-owned, pri -
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