Peruvian gold and copper exploration projects reach US$445mn in investment

By Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru (IIMP)

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

The president of proEXPLO 2025, Walter Tejada, indicated that the portfolio of exploration projects in Peru has a particularity, since 53% is focused on the discovery of new deposits and not on the expansion of current operations. In the world, the average search for new prospects is only 23%.

In detail, the executive added that greenfields projects total US$344 million and brownfields, that is, applications, reach US$300 million.

During his presentation at Fexmin , organized by the College of Geologists of Chile , the president of proEXPLO once again highlighted the geological potential of the country, where there is a portfolio of 75 projects, worth US$644 million. He also revealed that copper and silver explorations reach US$445 million.

Tejada said the project portfolio is diverse, including silver, zinc, iron, as well as critical minerals.

On another occasion, he said that Latin America has a leading role in the change of the energy matrix due to its high mining potential. In this regard, he said that this part of the world attracts 26.5% of the global exploration budget. “This is due to the enormous geological potential of Latin America since the subcontinent hosts 56% of the copper discovered since 1990,” added Tejada.

He went on to say that last year, investment in exploration in the region grew by 2%, which translates into a total of US$3.38 billion. This was mainly supported by growth in Chile and Argentina, and some other countries such as Colombia and Guyana, he said.

Tejada also said that in particular, there was strong growth in investment in lithium exploration, with an increase of 86% in 2023 compared to 2022.

“The need to secure the supply of critical metals such as copper and lithium means that interest in investing in South America will continue. This context represents an opportunity for us that we must seize,” he concluded.