Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Francisco Ísmodes at Perumin 2019. Image courtesy of the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, Flickr.

Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Francisco Ísmodes, said that the Martín Vizcarra government wants to secure $21 billion in mining investments before the end of its term in 2023.

According to state-owned news agency Andina, Ísmodes said at the mining convention Perumin 34 held in Arequipa this week that of the $57 billion that are expected to be invested in 48 mid to long-term mining projects, at least $21 billion should be in place before Vizcarra leaves office.

The minister claimed that mining investments have grown for four years in a row, with the first seven months of 2019 showing a 25% rise when compared to the same period of the previous year. Such transactions have added up to over $3 billion.

“In this context, it is undeniable that we are a country with large mineral reserves. This year, for example, we will reach the best result in terms of copper production when compared to the previous five years. Thanks to the start of commercial operations of new projects such as the Toquepala expansion, we will reach 2.5 million tonnes of fine copper in 2019. By 2022, we will reach 3 million tonnes,” Ísmodes said.

Toquepala is Southern Copper’s (NYSE:SCCO) open-pit mine in the southern Tacna region. Its $1.2-billion expansion allowed the miner to increase the operation’s concentrating capacity to 120,000 tonnes per day from 60,000 tonnes per day.

Peru is the world’s No.2 copper producer and sixth-largest gold producer.

However, according to the Fraser Institute, the country occupies the 14th spot in terms of its attractiveness to mining investors because even though it is ranked 8th when in comes to its geological potential, it takes the 37th spot when it comes to the transparency and straightforwardness of its policies.

“This is why we need to improve our public policies and regulatory framework so that we can boost the competitiveness and sustainability of the mining sector, and become more attractive to investors,” Ísmodes said.

Source: https://www.mining.com