Matthew Rowlinson President & CEO SOLARIS RESOURCES
Could you introduce Solaris Resources?
Our flagship asset is the Warintza copper project, a near-term, tier-one, multi-generational deposit in Ecuador’s Morona Santiago province. Warintza hosts 4 billion t of near-surface resources, featuring a world-class strip ratio and extensive life of mine based on current resources. Within the broader Warintza cluster in southeastern Ecuador, we own mineral rights over 268 km² of additional properties, providing us with tremendous blue sky exploration potential. Could you walk us through the next catalysts?
With close to 200 km of drilling completed, the ore body is very well defined. The MRE will be encompassed into a PFS, which will be delivered to the market in Q3 this year. In parallel, we submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in August 2024, and we expect to receive the technical approval of the assessment by mid-2025. Then, we can move to the exploitation permit, so that by mid-2026 we have a fully-permitted, ready-to-go project.
The PFS, in particular, will be the first opportunity for the markets to truly understand the physical and financials characteristics of the project. What steps has Solaris Resources taken to ensure a collaborative relationship with its host communities?
We view Warintza as a project for Ecuador and by Ecuador; by this philosophy, the success of the project needs to be shared between the government, the communities, and ourselves. We have received deep support from the Canton where we are located all the way up to the provincial and government level. Over the past eight years that Solaris has been involved in the project, we have spent more than US$200 million, a big part of which goes back to communities, not only through direct funding, but also in terms of education, training, and social projects. 88% of our employees originate from the Amazonian region directly around the project and more than 20% are women.
Melanie Leighton CEO TITAN MINERALS
Titan Minerals has four copper and gold projects at different stages in southern Ecuador. Could you provide an overview of the company’s current assets?
With 3.1 million oz Au and 22 million oz Ag, Dynasty is our most advanced gold project, where we are currently undertaking drilling to grow the resource. At our most advanced copper project, Linderos, we recently entered a JV with Hancock Prospecting’s subsidiary company Hanrine, whereby they can earn up to 80% of Linderos by spending up to US$120 million through drilling, feasibility studies, and by reaching a decision to mine. In addition, our other early-stage exploration projects are Copper Duke and Copper Field.
All four projects are within a 40-kilometer radius of each other, at relatively low altitude. Moreover, we have access to green energy, with about 80% of Ecuador’s electricity generated from hydropower. Could you provide more details about the Dynasty project and its upside potential?
Dynasty is hosted within a 9-km long epithermal gold corridor, of which only half has been drilled to establish a 3.1 million oz gold and 22 million oz silver resource grading 2.23g/t Au, 15.7g/t Ag, extending from surface. There is certainly scale, but there are large gaps that remain to be drilled tested – both lateral and depth extensions. We intend to continue expanding the resource base until we reach sufficient critical mass to support robust feasibility studies moving ahead. We believe that the project could host +5 million oz in gold resources. As the only ASX-listed mining company in Ecuador, how comfortable are Australian investors with the jurisdiction?
Australian investors have come a long way in their level of comfort with Latin America, which probably started with investments into Chile. Because Ecuador is so underexplored, it presents a tremendous opportunity for greenfield discoveries that would be highly unlikely in mature places like Australia, Chile or even Africa.