The Peruvian mining industry will invest $7.39bn over the next three years to develop seven mining projects across the South American country.
Making the announcement during a virtual conference titled “Competitiveness and Social Sustainability,” Jaime Galvez, vice minister of energy and mines said that of the total amount, Southern Copper would invest $2.8bn to develop a project Los Chancas to produce 100,000mt of copper per year. He added that Teck would also develop a project in Zafranel at a cost of $1.2bn, which would produce 103,000mt per year.
The third project, at an investment of $2.1bn by Newmont, will transform the Yanacocha Sulfuros gold mine into a copper mine. This project will be developed at the beginning of 2021, Galvez said without disclosing further details.
Of the seven projects, Hochschild Mining will invest $140mn to develop the Relaves Marcona project for iron ore and copper, and the Optimización Inmaculada project at an investment of $136mn to produce gold and silver, Galvez said.
Bear Creek will also invest $586mn to develop the Corani project for silver, while Buenaventura will develop the San Gabriel gold project at a cost of $431mn.
The mining industry is one of the most important economic activities in Peru, representing about 9pc of the country’s GDP and 60pc of its exports. Copper and gold are the most important metals exported by value.