About 40% of gold production is done through illegal mining

Illegal mining produces 2.2 million ounces of gold annually; that is, 39.9% of the total production of this mineral, translating into a total of approximately US$4,000 million, according to Pablo de la Flor, Corporate Affairs manager of the Poderosa mining company, during the meeting of the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru.

Along these lines, he pointed out that the export of illegal gold is one of the main reasons for deforestation and pollution in the Amazon. Gold exports have multiplied by seven in the last 18 years and, with this, deforestation has continued to advance. In the last five years, in South America, 121,000 hectares, the equivalent of 170,000 soccer fields, have been deforested due to the work of illegal miners.

“There is a very clear and linear relationship with the performance of gold prices, on the one hand, and the production of dirty gold, illegal gold in our country. Today we are between US$2,400 and US$2,600 per ounce of gold and the prospects for the direction that gold performance takes in the coming months are positive,” explained De la Flor after pointing out that illegal mining is one of the main enemies of the sector. .

Although there is no exact study to know how many illegal miners there are in Peru, it is evident that illegal and informal mining has been growing exponentially. Some estimates highlight that there would be between 200,000 to 300,000 illegal miners and that these They would be operating mainly in 10 regions: Madre de Dios, Amazonas, La Libertad, Loreto, Arequipa, Huánuco, Apurímac, Cusco, Puno and Piura.

However, although the advance of illegal mining continues to advance, it is important to emphasize that formal mining has also expanded not only in Peru but in South America.