Adventus gets El Domo permit

Adventus Mining and Salazar Resources have received the environmental permit from Ecuador's Ministry of Environment, Water, and Energy Transition (MAATE) for the construction and operation of the El Domo-Curipamba project polymetallic project. Receipt of the permit will allow the joint venture partners to commence construction of the project.

"This approval will allow the construction and operation of El Domo, which will provide a new generation of opportunities for the people of central Ecuador," Salazar Resources chief executive Fredy Salazar said.

MAATE issued a technical approval of the joint venture's environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and environmental management plan (EMP) in May 2022. An environmental consultation was then carried out with communities in the direct area of influence of the project between July and December 2023, which the partners said overwhelmingly supported it with a 98% approval rating.

Adventus also confirmed its prior guidance on the start of construction. The partners seek to produce 10,463tpa of copper and 21,390tpy copper equivalent over the life-of-mine at a C1 cash cost of US$1.14/lb. El Domo has reserves of 6.5Mt grading 5% copper equivalent. Salazar has a 25% fully-carried interest in Curipamba through to production.

Wheaton Precious Metals will provide US$175.5 million in financing in return for a stream on 50% of the gold and 75% of the silver, some 12% of the project revenues, while Trafigura will provide a five-year $45 million senior debt facility at an 8% interest rate.

The decision is also good news to Ross Beaty-backed Luminex Resources, which agreed to merge with Adventus in November 2023 to create an Ecuador-focused copper-gold development company with a strong project pipeline.

Luminex will provide the merged entity with the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) stage Condor gold project and have one of the largest exploration portfolios in Ecuador, of more than 135,000ha across 13 projects. Condor is adjacent to Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte mine and Tongling-China Rail's Mirador copper project. A PEA was completed in 2021, highlighting a 12-year operation to produce 187,000ozpa of gold.

Shares in Adventus Mining opened up 7% at 29c, valuing the company at C$55 million.

Shares in Salazar Resources opened up 36% at 8c, valuing the company at C$14 million.

Shares in Luminex Resources opened up 8% at 20c, valuing the company at C$34 million.