Peru Third Most Important Mining Country In 2010
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Peru will be the third most important mining exploration destination in the world this year, said Peru's mining minister on Tuesday.
"This year Peru will position itself as the third most important destination for mining exploration investments. Only Canada and Australia are ahead of us," said Mining and Energy Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Sanchez, who is attending the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, said an estimated total of $35.5 billion is expected to be invested in Peru's mining sector over the next five years.
Peru's latest reserve figures stand at 2.04 billion fine ounces of silver, about 81.4 million ounces of gold and at least 75 million metric tons of copper, according to the government.
Peru's mining ministry said in a statement the silver reserve figures consolidate Peru's position as the world's leading producer. Silver production in 2009 was almost 124 million ounces, while gold production stood at 5.864 million ounces. Copper production in 2009 was 1.275 million metric tons.
Peru is the world's leading silver producer, its second-biggest copper producer, and the sixth-largest gold producer.
Peru's most important copper reserves, the statement said, include Toromocho, which is owned by Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, as well as the Quellaveco and Michiquillay projects, owned by American PLC (AAUKY, AA.UK).
It also listed the Rio Blanco copper project, controlled by China's Zijin Mining Group Co. (2899.HK), La Granja which is owned by Rio Tinto PLC (RTP, RIO.LN), and Las Bambas, owned by Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN).
The ministry also said Peru is the leading producer of zinc, lead, bismuth, and tin in the Latin American region. Peru is also Latin America's second- largest producer of molybdenum, selenium and cadmium.