That's possible but given Ecuador's recent history and more recent efforts to reach out to the world in international trade this would be the nail in the coffin for them as well as Kinross if this ever came out. No one would do business with them and Kinross would turn into Enron in a heartbeat.

I just cannot imagine China, India and pile off majors making inquiries and being told by the government of Ecuador that Kinross has a special deal and then in turn China, India and the majors just meekly walk away. Aurelian is a crown jewel and I just can't see a dozen possible suitors just accepting such collusion. These are competitors in the global market and for them to accept such corruption to their detriment doesn't make sense to me. Then again the past 5 months doesn't make any sense to me so take it for what you will.