Miguel Cardozo: “There are 9 exploration projects in the pipeline with an investment of US$ 167 million”

The director of the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru (IIMP) and former president of PERUMIN, Miguel Cardozo, revealed that our country has a portfolio of 70 mining exploration projects valued at US$ 521 million. This was detailed in an exclusive interview with the IIMP’s “Mining Dialogues” program.

Of this total of projects, Cardozo indicated that there are 39 that involve an investment of US$200 million and these are exploration initiatives that are already being executed or will be executed soon.

However, the engineer emphasized that the portfolio has 9 more projects that are still in process for the approval of their Environmental Management Instrument (IGA). These add up to a total investment of US$ 167 million, 13% of the portfolio.

“Here there is an interesting thing, these projects that are still in the environmental issue represent 13% of the portfolio; However, in investment terms it is a third of the portfolio. Why is it like this? It is because many of these projects are already a little more advanced and are taking a long time to receive the IGA, and this happens in several situations, in advanced projects that have already obtained permits previously or that have already been subject to a mining process. ”, he expressed.

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In that sense, he stated that this delay is not justified and it is illogical for the state authorities, who already know about these projects, to carry out studies again. One of the most recent cases is the extension of the useful life of Antamina.

“They (Antamina) were looking for a replacement permit, this means that they are looking to expand their production in quantity, but also in years, that is, to extend the life of the mine. It has been more than 4 years and 4 months to receive a permit on a project that has been working on and has been visited by all the environmental authorities in the country for 20 years, so it does not make any sense,” he asserted.

Projects by region

At another time, the director of the IIMP detailed that the 70 exploration projects are located in 16 regions of our country. For example, Áncash and Arequipa have 10 projects each respectively.

“We also have some regions like Ayacucho that have 7 projects, Apurímac that has 4, Cajamarca has 3, and so some that have 5 like Puno. There are different types, but in general the one that stands out is Cajamarca due to the amount of investment,” he said.

Under that premise, he maintained that Cajamarca has 3 exploration projects valued at US$ 124 million and represents 24% of the entire portfolio, the highest investment percentage. The reason? Because one of them is La Zanja, a gold and silver project, and the most advanced.

“Cajamarca is the region with the highest investment planned in the exploration portfolio, which confirms, without a doubt, that it is the region with the greatest recognized geological potential, although, unfortunately, little exploited for social and political reasons,” he concluded.