According to the latest data released by the Central Bank of Ecuador, from January to May this year, Ecuador’s total mineral exports reached US$1.101 billion, representing a 49% increase over the same period last year. Among these, copper concentrate exports totaled US$490 million, primarily from the Mirador copper mine located in Zamora Chinchipe Province in the country. Gold and gold concentrate exports amounted to US$333 million, mainly from the Fruta Norte copper mine, also situated in Zamora Chinchipe Province. Exports of other small-scale mineral products totaled US$278 million.
　　According to statistics, Ecuador’s average monthly mining exports for the first five months of the year totaled $220 million, representing a 26% increase over the previous year’s average monthly figure ($174 million) and a substantial 152% rise compared to the 2020 average monthly level ($88 million). Furthermore, as of May of this year, the country’s mining activities—including both mine and quarry extraction as well as the manufacture of non-metallic products (such as cement, glass, and porcelain)—have generated tax revenues totaling approximately $449 million.
　　Mining is Ecuador’s fourth-largest export item in the national economy, as well as its third-largest non-oil export and its largest non-traditional export. Fifty-one percent of Ecuador’s mineral exports are destined for China, followed by Switzerland and the United States, each accounting for 10% of Ecuador’s mining exports to these two countries.
　　(Nanjing Center, China Geological Survey; compiled by Zheng Lu; reviewed by Chen Xiufa; released by Zhang Xinyuan.)