The mining record of Ecuador
5,011 registered mining concessions held by 8,384 named titulars in ARCERNNR's cadastre, 145 beneficiation plants keyed by RUC, 0 of those RUCs flagged by the tax authority as ghost taxpayers or for nonexistent transactions, and at least 104 mining deaths reported by the Ecuadorian press.
A current cadastre, one tax-id bridge, and a dark safety record. ARCERNNR publishes its national cadastre with full history on an open map service, and its beneficiation-plant registry is the one official mining register that carries a RUC, Ecuador's tax id; the SRI answers any RUC, anonymously, with the taxpayer's status and two fraud flags. What no agency publishes is a mining accident or a mining-safety sanction: that power sits with the Ministerio del Trabajo and the IESS under general labour law, and the transparency law does not require publishing sanctions. The deaths here come from Spanish-language press, so every count is a floor; the drafted LOTAIP requests ask for the records that would replace it, with the residency obstacle the page explains.
Looking for US mine enforcement instead? See MSHA violations by operator. · Peru's mining record · Colombia's record · Argentina's record
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INSCRITA in ARCERNNR's cadastre: a concession registered in the mining register and in force; TRAMITE is an application in process and ARCHIVADA a title that ended or was denied.ⓘ
The cadastre keeps every title it ever carried; most archived rows are old concessions that ended, were renounced or were denied.Every concession the cadastre has ever carried, synced weekly from ARCERNNR's map service (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026; the layer's own newest update stamp is Sep 15, 2026). 8,384 named titulars, as the cadastre spells them.
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A planta de beneficio processes ore for one or many mines; ARCERNNR's registry gives its titular, RUC, capacity in tonnes a day and whether it sits inside a concession.Ore-processing plants with the titular's RUC, capacity and status, from a registry whose newest grant date is 2017 (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026).
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The Servicio de Rentas Internas answers any RUC anonymously with the taxpayer's status (active, suspended, passive), activity, regime and dates.ⓘ
The SRI flags a RUC as a contribuyente fantasma when it deems the taxpayer to exist only on paper, and for transacciones inexistentes when it deems invoices fictitious. The SRI's determination, shown as published.154 titulars carry a RUC learned from a plant or an SRI record that names them exactly; 6 plant RUCs are unknown to the SRI (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026).
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Counted from press headlines only; Ecuador publishes no official per-fatality mining record, so the true number is at least this.Spanish-language headlines naming Ecuadorian places from 2007 to Aug 12, 2026, read daily through Google News (last pull Sep 15, 2026) and classified by a language model against the headline's own words.
ARCERNNR publishes administrative resolutions, never sanctions; mine-safety penalties are imposed by the Ministerio del Trabajo and the IESS under general labour law and are not broken out by sector; the ministry's press feed names a mine only for large events. Three LOTAIP requests are drafted: ARCERNNR's accident and safety findings by concession, the Ministerio del Trabajo's mining inspections, sanctions and fatal-accident notifications, and the IESS's work-accident notifications by employer RUC.
Drafted, not yet filed. The law's guide limits requesters to residents of Ecuador, so the route is email from abroad, or an Ecuadorian resident filing on the site's behalf. This line changes to a ticket number and an answer date the day one is filed.
“Dos mineros murieron por deslizamiento de tierra en Zamora”
“Deslizamiento en Zamora Chinchipe deja dos mineros fallecidos”
“Tragedia en mina de Zamora Chinchipe: un trabajador fallece y dos sobreviven a deslave de madrugada”
“Imbabura: Hallan un cadáver dentro de una bocamina en Buenos Aires”
“Deslizamiento provocó la muerte de al menos una persona en una zona de minería ilegal”
“Trabajador fallece en accidente laboral dentro de mina”
“Zamora Chinchipe: daños en viviendas, detenidos y fallecidos, “huella” de la minería ilegal”
“Suspendidas actividades del frente minero Miraflores en Portovelo, tras explosiones y una muerte”
“Explosión en bodega de mina deja calor /Noticias Ecuador”
“Obrero fallece al estallar el polvorín de una concesión minera en Ecuador”
“Obrero murió en explosión de polvorín de mina en Portovelo”
“Suspenden concesión minera en Portovelo tras explosión que dejó un muerto”
Each row is one headline as an outlet published it, classified and extracted by a language model from the headline and snippet only; several outlets reporting one accident appear as several rows. Press reports, never an official record.
| Province | Registered | In process | Archived | Plants | Deaths (floor) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | 1,019 | 130 | 1,676 | 1 | 7 | |
| AZUAY | 483 | 190 | 798 | 62 | 10 | |
| LOJA | 458 | 42 | 1,071 | 0 | 0 | |
| EL ORO | 449 | 99 | 960 | 82 | 6 | |
| MORONA SANTIAGO | 383 | 186 | 816 | 0 | 0 | |
| GUAYAS | 302 | 84 | 314 | 0 | 0 | |
| COTOPAXI | 189 | 15 | 279 | 0 | 0 | |
| NAPO | 189 | 36 | 373 | 0 | 0 | |
| SUCUMBIOS | 175 | 71 | 327 | 0 | 0 | |
| PICHINCHA | 164 | 23 | 228 | 0 | 0 | |
| CHIMBORAZO | 149 | 16 | 294 | 0 | 0 | |
| ESMERALDAS | 135 | 52 | 317 | 0 | 5 | |
| IMBABURA | 127 | 26 | 175 | 0 | 1 | |
| MANABI | 124 | 48 | 80 | 0 | 0 | |
| CAÑAR | 95 | 48 | 142 | 0 | 0 |
Concessions by status per province, plants by their registered province, and press deaths by the province in the headline.
| Regime | Registered | Hectares |
|---|---|---|
| No regime recorded | 2,759 | 27,401 |
| Small-scale mining | 1,675 | 420,904 |
| Large-scale mining | 246 | 796,619 |
| General regime | 214 | 137,246 |
| Medium-scale mining | 117 | 133,106 |
The cadastre's regime (small, medium, large-scale mining, or the general regime) on registered concessions; older archived titles mostly carry none.
| Holder | Registered | Plants | Press accidents | SRI status | Provinces |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MINISTERIO DE TRANSPORTE Y OBRAS PUBLICAS | 83 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, BOLIVAR, CAÑAR, CARCHI, CHIMBORAZO, COTOPAXI, EL ORO, ESMERALDAS, GUAYAS, IMBABURA, LOJA, LOS RIOS, MANABI, MORONA SANTIAGO, NAPO, ORELLANA, PICHINCHA, SANTA ELENA, SANTO DOMINGO DE LOS TSACHILAS, SUCUMBIOS, TUNGURAHUA, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| ECUASOLIDUS S.A. | 42 | 0 | 0 | MORONA SANTIAGO | |
| FUENLABRADA CIA. LTDA. | 45 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, CAÑAR, CHIMBORAZO, COTOPAXI, EL ORO, GUAYAS, MORONA SANTIAGO, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| GOBIERNO AUTONOMO DESCENTRALIZADO PROVINCIAL DE PASTAZA | 39 | 0 | 0 | PASTAZA | |
| EMPRESA NACIONAL MINERA ENAMI EP | 33 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, BOLIVAR, CARCHI, CHIMBORAZO, COTOPAXI, ESMERALDAS, IMBABURA, PICHINCHA, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| GOBIERNO PROVINCIAL DE LOS RIOS | 25 | 0 | 0 | LOS RIOS | |
| GOBIERNO AUTONOMO DESCENTRALIZADO PROVINCIAL DE SUCUMBIOS | 23 | 0 | 0 | SUCUMBIOS | |
| CRUZ DEL SOL CSSA S.A. | 25 | 0 | 0 | CAÑAR, MORONA SANTIAGO, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| GREEN ROCK RESOURCES GRR SA | 23 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, CAÑAR, CHIMBORAZO, LOJA, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| UNION CEMENTERA NACIONAL UCEM SA | 25 | 0 | 0 | MORONA SANTIAGO | |
| VALLE RICO RESOURCES VRR SA | 19 | 0 | 0 | BOLIVAR, COTOPAXI, ESMERALDAS, LOS RIOS, PICHINCHA, SANTO DOMINGO DE LOS TSACHILAS | |
| GAD PROVINCIAL DE NAPO | 17 | 0 | 0 | NAPO | |
| GOBIERNO AUTONOMO DESCENTRALIZADO DE LA PROVINCIAL DE ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | 20 | 0 | 0 | ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| GOBIERNO AUTONOMO DESCENTRALIZADO DE LA PROVINCIA DE ESMERALDAS | 15 | 0 | 0 | ESMERALDAS | |
| GAD DE LA PROVINCIA DE MORONA SANTIAGO | 13 | 0 | 0 | MORONA SANTIAGO | |
| COMPANIA DE INVESTIGACION Y EXPLOTACION MINERA EXPLOMINAS S.A. | 21 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, BOLIVAR, CHIMBORAZO, MORONA SANTIAGO, NAPO, PASTAZA | |
| GAD PROVINCIAL DE PICHINCHA | 19 | 0 | 0 | PICHINCHA, SANTO DOMINGO DE LOS TSACHILAS | |
| GOBIERNO PROVINCIAL DE MANABI | 15 | 0 | 0 | MANABI | |
| EXPORTADORA AURIFERA S.A. EXPAUSA | 15 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, CAÑAR, CHIMBORAZO, EL ORO, ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| GOBIERNO AUTONOMO DESCENTRALIZADO PROVINCIA DE ORELLANA | 13 | 0 | 0 | ORELLANA | |
| JESUS DEL GRAN PODER RUC 0702427006001 | 0 | 4 | 0 | active | |
| UNION CEMENTERA NACIONAL UCEM S A | 18 | 0 | 0 | CHIMBORAZO, COTOPAXI, GUAYAS, MORONA SANTIAGO, NAPO, TUNGURAHUA | |
| AURELIANMENOR S.A. | 16 | 0 | 0 | ZAMORA CHINCHIPE | |
| ECOLUXEN S.A. RUC 0992764249001 | 11 | 1 | 0 | EL ORO | |
| COMPAÑIA MILROMER S.A. | 16 | 0 | 0 | AZUAY, COTOPAXI, EL ORO |
Ranked by press events, plants, registered concessions and all concessions. Every titular has a page; this table shows the top of the ranking, with the SRI's status where a RUC is known.
ARCERNNR (Agencia de Regulación y Control de Energía y Recursos Naturales No Renovables) — Catastro Minero Nacional (ArcGIS REST): 15,474 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
ARCERNNR (Agencia de Regulación y Control de Energía y Recursos Naturales No Renovables) — Plantas de Beneficio (ArcGIS REST): 145 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
The cadastre and the plant registry are read from ARCERNNR's ArcGIS REST services (no key; the cadastre by objectid batches because the server ignores paging); the SRI through its anonymous taxpayer API; the press through Google News RSS.