Main Mining investment projects

Prospects

From the days of the Spanish conquest, foreigners have come in search of the products of Peru's mines and the mining sector has been a core part of the economy up until the modern era. Operations at the historic zinc-mining center of Cerro de Pasco began in 1905 and the Metallurgical Complex at La Oroya started production in 1922. Much of Peru's rail network was created to serve the needs of the mining industry. Nevertheless, relatively little exploration was carried out in the 1960s and 1970s and development of the mining sector came to a halt. The mining industry believes that Peru's favorable geology has been under-exploited. Thus, while reserves have been exploited intensively in the US, Canada and Chile, to date only about 12 per cent of Peru's mineral resources have been worked. Peril has the capacity to double or triple current levels of output, especially in base metals. In all, Peru holds about 16 per cent of the world's known mineral reserves, including 15 per cent of copper and 7 per cent of zinc reserves.