Video News/Digging Deep

Christopher Ecclestone, principal and mining strategist at Hallgarten + Company, says large mining projects often lose leverage once companies commit billions in capital, leaving them exposed to shifting government demands and political risk. Speaking with Kitco Mining’s Digging Deep, Ecclestone said that once investments become too large to abandon, host governments can “squeeze the lemon over and over again until there's no juice left,” extracting a greater share of project economics. Ecclestone discussed SSR Mining’s $1.5 billion agreement to sell its 80% stake in the Copler mine in Türkiye following the February 2024 heap leach disaster, as well as AngloGold Ashanti’s decision to sell the stalled La Colosa project in Colombia. He argued that oversized open-pit strategies can run into social and political resistance, adding that “this gigantism in the mining sector is part of the problem.” The discussion also covered Mongolia’s push for a larger share of profits from Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine, Argentina’s RIGI investment regime, AbraSilver’s Diablillos project in Salta, and Lundin Mining’s latest copper expansion in Chile.