Peru moves forward on streamlining mining regulations

Peru's energy and mines ministry (Minem) is advancing on clearing regulatory obstacles to streamline mining processes.

Although the ministry is focused on implementing the digital one-stop shop (VUD) this year, it is also seeking to favor the sector by making permitting more flexible.

A final modification to a decree proposed by Minem would allow companies to increase daily production by up to 10% from 5% currently without the need for mining concession changes or approval from authorities.

The proposal is based on the need for regulations that facilitate recovery without major equipment changes that incur capital expenses, considering that the sector has been strongly affected by the global economic crisis. This year, the ministry projects copper production of over 3Mt and total investments of US$5.4bn. 

The modification, however, would not apply to mining companies that are evaluating expanding their processing capacity through new investments, expansions or that demand greater use of resources like water.

“The additional amount of installed capacity… in no case can occur as a consequence of the installation of new equipment, auxiliary facilities, repowering or modification of operating parameters of the equipment, process improvement, among others,” the decree says.

Expansions via investments will have to be previously evaluated and approved by authorities such as environmental regulator Senace.

One-stop shop

The head of the mining department, Jorge Soto, said the ministry is holding meetings with Senace, water authority ANA, forestry service Serfor, protected areas service Sernanp, state agency Ingemmet, the culture ministry and others, to expedite second stage procedures. It aims to complete the process this month.

Soto said in an interview with the Institute of Mining Engineers that the second stage will focus on optimizing internal processes and reviewing legal issues under the current regulatory framework.

Regarding the first stage, focused on exploration, Soto highlighted that it has been possible to reduce the permit review time from 234 to 40-50 days and that procedures for up to three projects should be approved each month.