Despite the fact that shipments of Peruvian minerals fell 8% in the first quarter —0.7% in the case of copper—, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) assured that the progress of copper production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will not mean that our country loses the second place of global supplier of the red metal, due to the portfolio of projects that are managed locally.
In dialogue with La República, the general director of Mining Promotion and SustainabilityWalter Sánchez, highlighted that the national production of this metal reached 221,999 fine metric tons in April, an increase of 30.5% compared to the same month of the previous year, in which social devastation favored the Congolese advance.
Of the 47 mining projects that currently require an investment of US$53,715 million in Peru, 27 are copper and represent US$38,521 million of the total. cajamarca It shelters three of the largest with La Granja, El Galeno and Yanacocha Sulfuros. Further behind are Los Chancas and Río Blanco, in Apurímac and Piura, respectively.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produced 2.36 million tons of copper last year. Photo: composition LR/Minem
“The fundamentals of copper production are quite solid. The top copper mining companies are already recovering their capacity, while the movement in the Southern Corridor is normalizing,” he said.
Even with the progress of Kamoa-Kakula in Congo, the future of copper in Peru is promising. Sánchez gives Zafranal as an example, whose Environmental Impact Study (EIA) was approved in May by Senace. To replicate the model, he anticipates an aggressive reduction in red tape before different regulatory bodies in the second half of the year.
“As long as we have the portfolio of copper projects running, there is no danger of being displaced by Congo. We are very confident that production will continue to be sustained and we have been supporting companies that have projects under construction,” the official stressed.
The data
Vein. Copper production in Peru grew 15.7% in the first four months of 2023. Mine. Kamoa-Kakula, in the Congo, will produce twice as much red metal as Las Bambas. It is his main stronghold.
Infographic – The Republic
Source: Larepublica
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