Peru’s mining industry is investing $4bn to develop six projects this year for copper, zinc, gold, and silver extraction.
The Yanacocha Sulfuros copper and gold mining project has a $2.1bn price tag and will be developed by Yanacocha, Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) said in a statement.
The second project, Integración Coroccohuayco, comes at a cost of $590mn and will produce around 100,000mt of copper annually. The project will be developed by Compañía Minera Antapaccay, a Glencore subsidiary.
The silver-producing Corani mining project, located in Peru’s Andes Mountains, will be developed by Bear Creek Mining for $579mn.
The San Gabriel mining project is being developed by Buenaventura, Peru’s largest precious metals producer, and will have a production capacity of100,000 oz gold. The project is estimated to cost $431mn, Minem said. The Optimización Inmaculada mining project, at a cost of $136mn, will produce silver and gold.
The Ampliación Pachapaqui mining project will be capable to process about 3,300mt of minerals a day, and will cost $117mn.
The mining industry is one of the most important economic activities in Peru, representing about 9pc of its GDP and 60pc of the country’s exports. Copper and Gold are the most important metals exported by value.