TORONTO (Reuters) – Lundin Gold Inc has a hearty appetite for growth even as the Canadian miner focuses on building its first mine in Ecuador on time and budget, Chief Executive Ron Hochstein said on Sunday.
"We want to grow to be an at least 1-million-ounce-a-year producer with three to four operations," Hochstein said in an interview with Reuters at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada mining show in Toronto.
"Our appetite is a good one. We've got great opportunities to grow organically and obviously we'll look at other places as well," he said. The company would focus on North and Latin America for future growth.
The Vancouver-based miner is first focused on building Fruta del Norte, which will be Ecuador's biggest gold mine, after raising $1 million in financing over the past year.
The start of production is targeted by the end of 2019. The underground mine is expected to operate for 15 years and produce over 325,000 ounces of gold annually, and encompasses six of the company's 29 mining concessions, which cover 70,000 hectares of land.
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