Peruvian copper, iron ore, zinc, and lead production dropped in the first half of this year from the same period a year ago, due to mine shutdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Copper production decreased by 20.4pc to 1.1mn mt in H1 2020, from 949,217mt in January-June 2019, due to lower production at Cerro Verde’s and Compañía Minera Antamina’s mines, the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) said in a release on Wednesday.
The country’s iron ore production went down by 36.6pc to 4.4mn mt in H1 2020, from 2.8mn mt in H1 2019, after Shougang Hierro Perú and Minera Shouxin Perú, the two main iron ore producers, halted operations in April and May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South American country also saw a decline of 23.7pc in its zinc production which reduced to 678,591mt in H1 2020, from 517,432mt in the same period last year, while lead production fell by 30.2pc to 149,364mt from 104,242mt during the same six months under comparison. On the other hand, Molybdenum production increased by 9.1pc to 13,197mt in H1 2020, from 14,397mt in H1 2019.
The mining industry is one of the most important economic activities in Peru representing about 9pc of GDP and 60pc of the country’s exports. Copper and gold are the most important metals exported by value.