The dissemination of scientific information is an unavoidable task for the development of research. The Instituto Nacional de Investigación Geológico Minero Metalúrgico, INIGEMM, as generator and administrator of the Geological - Mining - Metallurgical information of the country, presents to the scientific community the first issue of the GEOLATITUD Journal, product of the studies and projects developed.

GEOLATITUD is created as a sign of the strengthening of knowledge of Earth Sciences in Ecuador. From the country in Latitud Cero, half of the world, we launched this product as a generator of ideas, in a space where our environment can be conceptualized.

Paraphrasing the thinking of the epistemologist Mario Bunge, we agreed that the path of Science is intrinsically progressive, self-corrective and requires the continuous checking of the starting points, and requires that all results be considered as a source of new questions.

With GEOLATITUD, we seek to contribute to the development and the consequent well-being of the human being. In this first issue we present regional and economic geology articles that provide a valuable overview of our territory. The studies are the sample of the knowledge of our technical team, the reflection of the constant and strong commitment with the research that characterizes the INIGEMM and to those who with meritorious will collaborate in this number.

GEOLATITUD, is a scientific journal of annual publication with themes of Geology, Mining and Metallurgy. We invite the academic, scientific and related community to share their research experiences with the common and unique purpose of giving impetus to the development of Earth Sciences.