Copper production in Peru rose nearly 7 per cent to 2.3 million tons in 2021, despite several protests in the country that paralyzed some key businesses. Peru is the world's second largest copper producer after Chile.
According to the latest report from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines, precious metal production also increased last year, with gold production up 9.7% and silver production up 21.5% in 2021.
The increase in copper and silver production is partly due to the opening of Marcobre's $1.6 billion Mina Justa open-pit mine in July.
As Peru's main export, about 80 per cent of copper production comes from Antamina (20 per cent), Southern Copper (17.3 per cent), Cerro Verde (18.2 per cent), Las Bambas (12.6 per cent and Chinalco 10.3 per cent.
The report shows that last year's largest gold production came from the Poderosa mine and the Yanacocha mine.
Protests against mining companies have surged since President Pedro Castillo (Pedro Castillo) took office in July.
The Socialist leader came to power overwhelmingly, promising a new deal with the copper industry and redistributing profits to the Andean community around Antamina, MMG's Las Bambas and Glencore's Antapaccay.
The National Association of Mining, Oil and Energy, the country's industry group, said most of the protesters called for measures to limit mining at the source of the basin because miners ignored the fact that these areas were protected by water laws.
* supply concerns *
Social unrest in Peruvian mining areas has heightened global fears of a possible shortage of copper. Copper is considered to be a key metal in the global transition to green technology.
The CRU Group estimates that the copper industry will need to spend more than $100 billion by 2030 to meet its annual shortage of 4.7 million tonnes.
Copper has a wide range of uses, from building materials to batteries and engines, it is both a weather vane for the economy and a key factor in driving renewable energy and electric vehicles.
If producers fail to address the shortage, copper prices will continue to rise and pose a challenge to world leaders who want a global energy transformation to deal with climate change.
