Copper production in Peru increased 15.7% in the first four months of the year

Copper production in Peru has been affected by the constant stoppages of mines due to socio-environmental conflicts.

The national production of copper, one of the supports of the Peruvian economy, reached 221,999 fine metric tons (TMF) in April, representing a growth of 30.5% compared to the same month of the previous year (170,168 TMF), thanks to the good performance production of Southern Peru, Minera Las Bambas and Cerro Verde, according to the Mining Statistical Bulletin (BEM) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem).

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These results, added to the figures registered in the previous months of 2023, contributed to the total copper production reaching 837,514 TMF, showing a growth of 15.7% compared to the same period of 2022 (723,931 TMF), the document indicates. published every month by the Directorate for Mining Promotion of Minem.

At the mining title level, Cerro Verde remained the largest copper producer, followed by Minera Antamina and Southern Peru Copper. While, at the departmental level, Arequipa continued in first place with 18.7%, followed by Áncash with a contribution of 16.0% and Moquegua with 15.8%.

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The BEM also highlighted the increase in other main metals in April, such as zinc, which registered a growth of 31.4%, as well as silver, lead and iron, compared to the same month of the previous year. Regarding silver production, in the fourth month of the year it registered a year-on-year increase of 0.2% (249,655 kg of fines), in relation to what was reported in the same month of 2022 (249,159 kg of fines). Minera Antamina remained the main silver producer nationwide.

Meanwhile, lead production reached 23,009 TMF in April, which meant an increase of 9.1% in contrast to what was reported in the same month of the previous year (21,095 TMF), due to higher production by Nexa Resources El Porvenir.

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And regarding iron production, in April 2023 it registered a total of 1,138,235 TMF, meaning an increase of 2.9% compared to the same month in 2022 (1,106,279 TMF). In this way, the result of April contributed to the accumulated production to the fourth month of the year registering a positive variation of 23.9% in relation to the same period of 2022 (3,906,224 TMF).

copper production.

According to a report by Wood Mackenzie, in terms of production, Peru continues to remain in second place, but seeing no new projects of the coveted red metal; The Democratic Republic of the Congo, where high-grade projects are being developed, could surpass Peru between 2026 or 2027.

In this sense, Rubén Arrieta, director of Wood Mackenzie, at a mining event held in Lima, stated that copper production in the African country almost equaled that of Peru in 2022, reaching 2.44 million tons, according to official data.

In contrast, Peru registered a production of 2,438,631 million tons of copper in 2022. It should be noted that Chile is the largest copper producer in the world, last year, it reported the extraction of 5,327,500 tons of copper.

Although Peru has 18 new mining projects, known as “greenfields”, only one of them is expected to be developed in the short term. On the other hand, Chile has 17 projects in the expansion phase, called “brownfield”, some of which are large, according to the Wood Mackenzie report.

Throughout the years, Peru has been one of the main destinations for mining investment. However, due to persistent social conflicts, constant political instability and a lack of new projects, the country is at risk of losing its position in the world ranking, Arrieta said.

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