Current situation and investment prospect of mining industry in Ecuador

Ecuador is located in northwestern South America and is the third largest oil reserve country in South America.It is proven oil reserves of 8.273 billion barrels in 2017.Ecuador is located in Pacific rim metallogenic belt, so it is have rich mineral resources.Two copper mines have reach 8 Mt and the Fruta del Norte gold mine's resources is 948 million Oz.However, the exploration area only accounts for 10% of the territory in Ecuador.This paper analyzes the current status of investment by Chinese companies in Ecuador and takes copper and gold mineral resources or oilfield development as the entry point.The authors think that the preferred areas for future cooperation should be based on oil, gold and copper.Meanwhile, Chinese companies should bulid supporting smelting and processing base matching.At the same time, Chinese companies should increase infrastructure investment and provide professional skills and personnel training, we can achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.