Ecuador Will Test Mineral Cargoes Before They Sail

Ecuador · MINING

Ecuador’s gold has been leaving the country far below the world price. The government now wants every cargo weighed and assayed before it sails.

Ecuador will start testing mineral cargoes in laboratories before they leave the country. The order targets sales to buyers linked to the seller or backed by a foreign state.

The reason is money the state believes it is not collecting. Ecuadorean gold was leaving at roughly a third below the world price.

What the Order Says

The decree is Acuerdo Ministerial MAE-VM-2026-0001-AM. The deputy mining minister, Galo García, signed it on 13 August 2026 at the environment and energy ministry.

It requires the mining regulator ARCOM to take samples of processed mineral material before export. Accredited laboratories then verify the grade and purity.

Two conditions trigger it. Either the buyer and the seller are corporately linked, or the buyer or its ultimate owner has foreign state participation.

A cargo without a certificate is held, and the export is suspended with no end date. Cases of unfair competition go to the competition authority and tax matters to the revenue service.

The Number Behind the Decision

Central bank figures show Ecuador exported gold at about US$3,059.90 an ounce in the first quarter of 2026. The international average over the same months was US$4,876.30.

That is a discount of 37.3%, and it widened through the quarter. On gold shipments running into the billions, the gap is a large hole in the tax base.

The decree is a transfer-pricing measure dressed as a quality control. It is about what the state can tax, not about who Ecuador sells to.

How Concentrated the Trade Has Become

The decree cites regulator figures for the share of mining exports going to China by weight. That share rose from 52.6% in 2025 to 83.4% in the first half of 2026.

Copper concentrate is the bulk of it. Some 382,012 of 403,266 tonnes went to China, or 94.7%, with gold concentrate at 53.9%.

These are weight shares, and weight flatters the picture. Copper concentrate is heavy and cheap per tonne, while gold is light and expensive.

A share measured in dollars would look very different.

Earlier figures often quoted are dollar shares and are not comparable. The central bank put 71.0% of mining exports by value going to China between January and November 2023.

The Trade Ecuador Is Now Policing

Mining has become Ecuador’s second largest non-oil export. It brought in US$4.16 billion in 2025, a rise of 26%.

The first half of 2026 added US$2.63 billion, up 41% on the same months of 2025. Only shrimp earns more, at US$4.70 billion, and bananas now come third.

All of that comes from two mines. Fruta del Norte in Zamora Chinchipe is run by the Canadian company Lundin Gold and supplies most of the gold.

Mirador, in the same province, is owned by the Chinese-controlled EcuaCorriente. It accounts for roughly 95% of copper export volume.

The Free Trade Agreement Ecuador Signed

Some of this concentration is a policy Ecuador chose. Its free trade agreement with China has been in force since 1 May 2024.

Chinese imports into Ecuador rose 28% in the first half of 2026. The decree does not touch the agreement; it works around it through export controls.

The Wider Problem of Untraceable Gold

Ecuador also has a large illegal gold trade. The then interior minister Mónica Palencia said in January 2025 that illegal mining had exported US$1.3 billion of gold.

Investigative reporters identified 56 exporters whose gold had no verifiable origin. The revenue service suspended 78 tax registrations.

Testing cargoes before they leave is one way to attack that too. Whether it works depends on rules the regulator has not yet published.

What Is Still Missing

ARCOM has 30 days from 13 August to publish its sampling protocols and the concentration thresholds it will test against. Until it does, there is no operative start date.

The 83.4% figure comes from the decree itself and has not been published independently. It should be read as the government’s own number, not as a separate statistic.

More: Ecuador news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What has Ecuador actually ordered?

Mineral cargoes must be sampled and their grade and purity verified in accredited laboratories before export. Without that certificate the cargo is held and the export suspended indefinitely.

Why now?

Ecuador exported gold in the first quarter of 2026 at about US$3,059.90 an ounce while the world average was US$4,876.30. That 37% gap costs the state tax revenue.

Does the rule name China?

No. It applies where the buyer is affiliated with the seller, or is part-owned by a foreign state. In practice that captures state-backed Chinese buyers.

How much of Ecuador’s mining goes to China?

By weight, 83.4% in the first half of 2026, on regulator figures quoted in the decree itself. Copper concentrate alone was 94.7% by weight.

Is the rule in force?

Not fully. The mining regulator has 30 days from 13 August 2026 to publish its sampling protocols.

It must also set the mineral concentrations it will test for.

Sources: Acuerdo Ministerial MAE-VM-2026-0001-AM of 13 August 2026, Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía; ARCOM; Banco Central del Ecuador; El Universo; Expreso; La Hora; Forbes Ecuador; Primicias; Plan V.