The Peruvian mining industry's hopes for 2015

While Colombia’s economy has been rocked by the falling price of oil, the Peruvian economy is even more dependent on one sector of its economy, in this case mining. Peruvian Deputy Minister of Mines Guillermo Shinno told reporters that he believes foreign investment in the Peruvian mining industry will reach similar levels in 2015 to those of 2014, or approximately $8.5 billion. Despite the slowdown in global demand for the Peru’s mining projects, investment will continue apace, mostly thanks to a few extremely large mining projects.

In related news, Peru plans to auction off the Michiquillay copper and gold mining project by the end of 2015. Deputy Minister Shinno told reporters that the government is currently working to head off any possible social conflicts with the local communities in the Cajamarca region where the project is located. The value of the Michiquillay site is estimated to be $700 million, but Anglo American pulled out from the project in December of last year, so the Peruvian government will be eager to defuse any possible conflicts with the Cajamarca locals.

The Peruvian Mines and Energy issued the environmental permit for a $1.5 billion iron ore mine owned by China’s Jinzhao Mining. According to the report, the Ministry also issued an environmental permit for the $340 million port that will export the iron ore. The report noted that though Peru produces considerable amounts of copper, gold, silver, and zinc, it only has one iron ore mine currently in production.

Julio César Gallardo, president of the Peruvian Mining trade association Camiper, told the Economist that Peru is aiming to be come the world’s leading producer of copper by 2020, with hopes of displacing its rival and neighbor, Chile, the worlds current leading producer of copper. The report stressed that the key to this rise will be overcoming the constant problem of social conflicts with the local communities.