Minister Rómulo Mucho: “New copper projects will allow us to reach 4 million tons”

By Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru ( Minem )

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish.

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho, stated that at the Decarbonization and Industrial Transition Summit that took place this week in Washington, USA, it was highlighted that Peru is one of the main sources of minerals worldwide, especially copper.

"The meeting was an important opportunity to promote mining investments, where we have raised very good expectations among the investors who attended the event organized by the London magazine Financial Times," he noted in the A todo Maquina program on Tv Perú.

He highlighted that today "copper becomes the king of metals due to its multiple use in construction, housing, cars, electronic and high-tech equipment, etc. I estimate that we have US$1.2 billion in copper reserves that are underground and that could be used to generate employment and greater benefits for Peruvians."

"In addition, we are promoting investments in hydrocarbons and electricity generation through renewable energies, especially in the latter, we have the obligation to generate between 500 and 1,000 megawatts annually to meet the growth in demand, but in recent years we have not generated due to the conflict that exists in the country," Mucho remarked.

The head of MINEM pointed out that with the development of 4 or 5 new projects such as Cotabambas, Antakori, in addition to Conga, La Granja, Galeno and Michiquillay we will be able to produce 4 million tons of copper per year, and get closer to Chile, which is the first producer in the world.

Regarding political stability and legal security, he stated that they are very necessary to attract investments. “The good news is that, in the government of President Dina Boluarte, we are working in coordination with several ministries and that has not happened in the past. We coordinate with the ministries of Agrarian Development, Culture, Environment, Transportation and Communications, to make the use of these resources viable,” he said.

At another time, he maintained that it is necessary to ensure the efficient use of canon resources, improve access to basic services such as sanitation, electricity, education and the closing of social gaps, with the aim of generating employment and promoting economic development in mining regions.