Local News

August 5, 2022 – Quito, Ecuador - Lowell Mineral Exploration Ecuador S.A. (“Lowell”), subsidiary for Solaris Resources Inc. (“Solaris”), in collaboration with Women in Mining Ecuador (“WIM Ecuador”) and Torata Mining Resources Tmr S.A (“Torata Mining”) have officially launched the Second Edition of the “Woman Miner” scholarship program promoting participation of women in the mining industry in Ecuador by sponsoring tuition of  undergraduate engineering studies and/or license degrees for careers in the mining sector for female students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership.

The Second Edition panel of judges will be made up of representatives from the following private and public entities: Ministry of Energy and Mines of Ecuador, Citizens’ Participation Corporation, Ecuadorian Mining Engineers’ (AIME), Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining, Solaris Resources, Torata Mining and a representative of WIM Ecuador.  

Federico Velásquez, Vice President of Operations of Solaris stated, “Our participation in this endeavor for the second consecutive year strengthens the Company’s commitment to follow through with actions that directly impact the placement of professional women in the Ecuadorian mining sector. Gender equality is a clear challenge in the mining industry and this initiative incorporates actions directly aimed at promoting female empowerment and gender equality, in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (“SDG”) #5, guaranteeing full participation and equality of leadership opportunities for women in decision making processes.”

María Isabel Aillón, President of WIM Ecuador, stated, “WIM Ecuador was founded in this country two and a half years ago as a voluntary initiative to promote women’s participation in the mining industry, directed towards SDG #5 and to highlight, as well as to develop, good and best practices as a cornerstone of responsible mining. One of our projects is the “Woman Miner” scholarship, which tackles a strategic challenge of the industry to motivate the main stakeholders in the field, upper management and the civil society; to commit to inclusion and diversity through the support of young women looking to attain competitive careers in the mining industry.”

Carolina Orozco, Country Manager of Torata Mining, stated, “A person’s capabilities and fitness does not come from gender; inequality is still a barrier that we must overcome in the Ecuadorian mining sector. This is why at Torata Mining we support women joining this industry in greater numbers every day and promote equality of opportunity regarding access to education, as well as careers as part of our company policy and sustainability strategy. It is essential to support and motivate more women to choose career paths in mining, as well as to encourage those who have taken on this challenge to participate in this Second Edition of the “Woman Miner” scholarship program to support their higher education studies.”

The Second Edition of the “Woman Miner” scholarship will grant financial support to 8 students. The main selection criteria for participation in the program is academic excellence, student leadership and contributions to the responsible advancement of the mining industry.

In 2021, Solaris Resources was the first company with operations in Ecuador to collaborate in the creation of this scholarship program together with WIM Ecuador. This year, Torata Mining joins this vital initiative and commits to sustain efforts in support of this program.

In Ecuador, the mining industry is establishing itself as one the vital economic sectors for the country’s development, and offers a competitive professional labour market in which women can find critical opportunities. According to a study by WIM Ecuador, Actuaria and EITI – Ecuador, the current nationwide female participation level in the mining industry is just 16.95%. The greatest challenge is to uphold and increase this participation with the aim of raising economic empowerment in Ecuadorian women.

Through this initiative, Solaris, WIM Ecuador and Torata Mining are contributing in the fight against one of the greatest challenges in the country in order to increase professionalization of women in the mining industry and promote gender equality within the sector. The recruitment and base requirements for the “Woman Miner” scholarship will be published and made available on the WIM Ecuador and Torata Mining official websites, as well as on Solaris’ social media accounts.

For more information:

Lowell Mineral Exploration S.A.

María Fernanda Poveda
Telephone: +593 99 655 6655
E-mail: maria.poveda@lowellmineral.com

Women in Mining Ecuador:

Sofía Ortiz
Telephone: +593 98 719 2588
E-mail: registros@wimecuador.com

Torata Mining Resources TMR S.A. S.A.

Ricardo Flores
Telephone: +593 96 701 9460
E-mail: relacionescomunitarias@toratamining.com

About Lowell Mineral Exploration Ecuador S.A.

Lowell Mineral Exploration Ecuador S.A., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Solaris, promotes the development of strategic alliances with key stakeholders in Ecuador to pave the way for sustainable best practices in responsible exploration.

About Solaris Resources Inc.

Solaris is advancing a portfolio of copper assets in the Americas, focused on its Warintza Project in Ecuador that features a broad cluster of outcropping copper porphyry deposits anchored by a large-scale, high-grade open pit resource inventory at Warintza Central. Ongoing efforts are focused on rapid resource growth and further discovery drilling. The Company offers additional discovery potential at its portfolio projects: Capricho and Paco Orco in Peru, Ricardo via joint-venture with Freeport-McMoRan and Tamarugo in Chile, and significant leverage to increasing copper prices through its 60%-interest in the La Verde joint-venture with Teck Resources in Mexico.

About Women in Mining

WIM Ecuador was created as part of the global International Women in Mining (IWIM) network with the goal of creating a non-profit entity, independent from companies, governments and private persons, but with a purpose of collaboration and mutual support. Founded in December of 2019, Women in Mining Ecuador “WIM Ecuador” is a voluntary women’s initiative with the intent of involving the mining sector in the creation of strategies to promote inclusion of women in the industry. For more information, visit www.wimecuador.com

About Torata Mining Resources TMR S.A

Torata Mining Resources TMR S.A is a local subsidiary in Ecuador, part of the Challenger Exploration Limited Business Group from Australia; Torata Mining is an exploration company whose primary goal in the country is to discover resources implementing its ecosystem restoration and sustainability policy. Challenger Exploration Limited is an Australian exploration mining company developing two projects in Latin America: the Hualilán Gold Project in the province of San Juan, Argentina; currently in the advanced exploration stage and preparing the economic feasibility study for production, and the Guayabo Gold and Copper Project in the province of El Oro, Ecuador; currently in the initial exploration stage. For more information, visit www.challengerex.com

Cautionary Notes and Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements. All statements except statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of the words "may", "expect", "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include statements about our intention, our current beliefs, or expectations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements as the Company cannot guarantee that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. In addition, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements.