Solaris Resources Inc. and its subsidiary Lowell Mineral Exploration Ecuador S.A. are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Electric Corporation of Ecuador (“CELEC EP”) to supply low-cost, locally sourced hydroelectric power to the Warintza Project (“Warintza” or “the Project”) in southeastern Ecuador.
CELEC EP will provide locally sourced hydroelectric power from the National Transmission System in Ecuador with the goal of providing the primary power required for the Warintza Project. This initiative dovetails with the “Ecuador Zero Carbon Program” developed by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition and the National Decarbonization Pact of which Solaris was the first mining signatory in September 2021.
Solaris intends to maximize the potential for efficiencies derived from this abundant, renewable, low-cost energy source by studying the potential for electrification of infrastructure, mobile mining equipment, including drills, trucks and shovels, materials movement and conveyance, including gravity-assisted solutions, and processing and pumping systems.
Mr. Daniel Earle, President & CEO, commented, “The MOU with CELEC supports our vision to study the potential for electrified operations that maximize the structural benefits of the Warintza Project within an infrastructure-rich mining district with the aim of lowering costs, increasing efficiencies, reducing emissions, and broadly positioning the Project as a leading development opportunity across a range of financial and ESG metrics in the industry.”
Mr. Gonzalo Uquillas Vallejo, General Manager of CELEC, stated, “As a leading strategic public company in the generation and transmission of electric power, we work in compliance with national guidelines to move toward the electrification of all areas of national industry, including large-scale mining, which will be a mainstay for the development of the Ecuadorian economy in the coming decades.”
