Ecuador: Fruta del Norte Expansion to Reach 7,000 Tonnes a Day
Ecuador · MINING
Key Facts
- —Throughput the Fruta del Norte expansion lifts the plant from about 5,500 to 7,000 tonnes per day within a year
- —Output goal sustain roughly 500,000 ounces of gold a year through 2028
- —Taxes Lundin Gold paid US$483 million to the state in 2025, the most of any company in Ecuador
- —Exploration US$85 million budget in 2026 and seven porphyry systems identified near the mine
- —Power mine signed a hydro supply deal with Hidroquest ahead of a 2026 self-generation deadline
The Fruta del Norte expansion is about moving more rock, not more gold: grades are falling at Ecuador’s largest mine, and the company wants to hold output near half a million ounces a year while it drills for what comes next.
Canada’s Lundin Gold said on Monday, 24 August 2026, that it will raise processing capacity at its Fruta del Norte gold mine in southern Ecuador from about 5,500 tonnes per day to 7,000 tonnes per day on a stable basis within twelve months, a Fruta del Norte expansion the company says is needed to offset declining ore grades rather than to produce more metal. The announcement came in a week when Ecuador’s export economy was in focus, with cacao exporters pivoting toward Asia and the government touting new rural internet links.
Fruta del Norte expansion lifts plant to 7,000 tonnes a day
Juan José Herrera, director of Business Sustainability at Lundin Gold and the company’s spokesperson in Ecuador, told Primicias the objective is not to extract more gold but to process more material as ore grades decline. The company expects to sustain production of about 500,000 ounces a year, within a forecast range of 475,000 to 525,000 ounces for 2026 through 2028. Output in 2025 was 498,315 ounces, with 238,737 ounces produced in the first half of 2026. That ramp-up, the core of the Fruta del Norte expansion, will take about a year, the company said.
The underground mine sits near Yantzaza, in Zamora Chinchipe province, and is reached through the K’isa portal, with workings extending toward depths of five kilometers. Around 200 people work each shift around the clock on 23-day rotations, Expreso reported after visiting the site, and the ore carries between six and twelve grams of gold per tonne of rock. Roughly 65 percent of processed material ends up in a tailings dam now at 1,483 meters above sea level, whose walls are raised six to seven meters every two years toward 1,515 meters by 2032. Seven survival refuges, each costing more than US$1 million, can shelter over 30 people underground.
The Fruta del Norte expansion underpins record trade numbers. Net exports reached US$1,783 million in 2025 and US$1,045 million in the first half of 2026, and the company projects more than US$2,000 million for the full year, which would be a record, according to Expreso.
The mine that pays the most taxes in Ecuador
Expreso describes Fruta del Norte as the mine that pays the most taxes in Ecuador: Lundin Gold was the country’s largest taxpayer between 2024 and 2025 and paid US$483 million to the state in 2025 alone, according to data from the Superintendencia de Compañías cited by the newspaper. The figures were published as the daily reported on how the operation works and what it contributes to public coffers.
The Fruta del Norte expansion also depends on electricity. The mine consumes about 20 megawatts and sits in the Alto Voltaje 2 group of the country’s largest power users. The government of President Daniel Noboa requires big consumers to have their own generation by the end of 2026, a rule introduced after drought-driven power crises strained the national grid. Lundin Gold has signed a hydroelectric supply contract with Hidroquest that covers total demand with headroom to 25 or 27 megawatts, and the Hidroquest plant is expected to operate in the fourth quarter of 2026, Primicias reported.
Sandía and the search for the next ore body
Growth beyond the current ore body is already in view. In July the company announced the discovery of two new porphyry systems, bringing the total to seven near the mine. The most advanced, Sandía, lies two kilometers from Fruta del Norte and includes the Sandía Noreste and Sandía Sureste zones; it is due a first resource estimate in early 2027.
The 2026 exploration budget is US$85 million, split between US$56 million near the mine, US$21 million regionally and US$8 million to convert resources into reserves, with more than 130,000 meters of drilling planned. The mine’s life currently runs to 2034 on reserves of about 5.85 million ounces, and the Fruta del Norte expansion gives those exploration dollars a bigger plant to feed.
Cacao looks to Asia as prices correct
Ecuador’s other export heavyweight is having a harder year. Cacao export value fell 59 percent between January and April 2026, US$955 million less than a year earlier, and first-half value dropped 57.5 percent, from US$2,310 million to US$981 million, on volumes of 220,247 tonnes, according to El Universo and Primicias. In the first quarter alone, exports were US$441 million, down 63.5 percent year on year. Prices peaked near US$12,000 per tonne in December 2024, fell toward US$4,000 in May and recovered to about US$5,800 in futures trading by mid-August, El Diario reported.
Asian demand is the bright spot. China and Russia doubled their purchases between January and April, to US$6 million and US$10 million respectively, and Anecacao executive director Merlyn Casanova told El Universo the Chinese market has grown more than 300 percent since 2021 and is structurally attractive. The exporters’ association projects more than 623,000 tonnes of exports in 2026, and Ecuador could overtake Ghana as the world’s number two producer in the 2026-27 season.
President Noboa took that message to Asia in person. On his first state visit to China he was received by President Xi Jinping on 18 August and met Shanghai’s mayor on 20 August to push for more exports of shrimp, banana, cacao and coffee, Ecuavisa and El Comercio reported, with Singapore and Vietnam also on his Asian tour, building on the Ecuador-China free trade agreement in force since May 2024.
Rural internet reaches border parishes
The government also used recent weeks to highlight rural connectivity. The telecommunications ministry opened three new free digital points in Esmeraldas, a border province next to Colombia: Rioverde, Borbón in the Eloy Alfaro canton, and San Gregório in Muisne, benefiting 21,000 people directly, dplnews reported in May. Esmeraldas now has 50 such points serving more than 391,000 people, and the national network of 995 points connects over seven million Ecuadorians, according to vice minister Ricardo Gutiérrez, using a mix of satellite and fiber links.
In June, the ministry extended fiber along the so-called Ruta Escondida to reach the rural Quito parishes of Perucho, Chavezpamba, San José de Minas and Atahualpa, a project announced by minister Roberto Kury and reported by dplnews.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Fruta del Norte expansion?
The Fruta del Norte expansion is Lundin Gold‘s plan to raise ore throughput at the Fruta del Norte gold mine from about 5,500 tonnes per day to 7,000 tonnes per day on a stable basis within a year, to offset declining grades and hold gold output near 500,000 ounces a year.
How much does Lundin Gold pay in taxes in Ecuador?
Lundin Gold paid US$483 million in taxes to the Ecuadorian state in 2025 and was the country’s largest corporate taxpayer between 2024 and 2025, according to Superintendencia de Compañías data reported by Expreso.
Why is Ecuador courting Asian buyers for its cacao?
Cacao prices have fallen sharply from their December 2024 peak, and China is the fastest-growing buyer: its purchases doubled in early 2026 and the market has grown over 300 percent since 2021, which is why President Noboa promoted Ecuadorian cacao during his August state visit to Shanghai.
Connected Coverage
Ecuador Gang Law Bill Would Jail Criminal Group Members Up to 22 Years
Ecuador Approves Law Letting Military Aid Police Without Emergency
Sources
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times