Peru's copper production is expected to reach 2.8 million tons this year

According to Mining. com, citing Reuters, a senior official in Peru stated on Monday that copper production is expected to reach 2.8 million tons this year, an increase of 15% from 2022. Copper has become the largest export commodity for this Andean country.

As the world's second largest copper producer, Peru's copper production has been affected by anti government protests and roadblocks since December last year.

Peru's Minister of Energy and Mines, Oscar Vera, told reporters after releasing the latest forecast that the Mining Industry is currently "returning to normal". According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the copper production in Peru's mines in 2022 was 2.44 million tons.

Vera added that officials are working to shorten the project approval time from around two years to six months.

We hope to achieve this goal by the end of the year, "he said.

Vera said that this year and next, Peru's mining investment is about 7 billion dollars, including Antamina copper mine expansion project, Teck Resources Zaflanal project, and Newmont's Yanacocha Sulfuros project.

Villa added that he hopes to approve the lithium exploration project "in the coming months".

We have had talks with potential investors from Canada and as a country, we are interested in implementing industrialization for another mineral, "Vera said. He refers to lithium, a key rechargeable battery metal.

Last August, the Peruvian government set up a working group to supervise the development of this super Light metal.

At present, Peru has only one lithium exploration project, which is located in the Department of Puno bordering Bolivia.

Prato Energy Metals of Canada is currently the operator of the hard rock lithium mine project called Falchani, with an estimated Lithium carbonate resource of 4.7 million tons.

Neighboring countries Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia have formed the so-called "lithium triangle", which contains large lithium deposits on vast salt marshes.