I am a Firefighter working overseas I serve the US military base settle in Somalia, Every 3 months I go on R&R, I just came back from Ecuador where I got offered to buy 23 acres of land, the price is ridiculously cheap they want 150000 for it, and since I currently have dual citizen ship I have the green light to buy it if I please, however that land is not the average piece of land you can buy overseas, I am talking about mining rare materials and many other possible resources to be exploited. I just send my brother which is an Architect specialized in city development and his founds were mind blowing.
Here is his report:
The predominant soils
Clayey
Sandy
Silty
Combinations of these (clay-sands, clay-silts, sandy-loams, etc.)
This is well-documented; due to aquifer and riverine profiles with fine, heterogeneous, and variable soils, that is the reality. THAT IS WHY FINDING ROCKS is like finding treasure, because these mines are "gold" for the development of construction, roads, and residential projects, among others.
Sedimentary rocks (sandstone, shale, siltstone, clay) and poorly consolidated Quaternary materials are highly prized by project managers and builders.
What I saw on site:
Black rocks (basaltic or volcanic)
Ballast and gravel
Riprap (armor stone)
It is easy to understand that we also have rocky outcrops and varied geological formations (ranging from the Cretaceous to recent deposits). Many people have made money from this, such as the Polits in Portoviejo and Isaac Vélez in Manta. Today, there are active quarries in the province supplying stone, sand, and ballast for construction.
Our soil is NOT homogeneous; it is highly variable. Fine soils (clay-sand-silt) predominate, but stony materials (rocks, riprap, ballast) also exist—not as the dominant matrix, but as localized occurrences or materials for extraction.
That is why finding a MINE is, quite literally, a gold mine.