SMM Analysis: Peruvian Minsur will invest at least $2 billion to expand copper and tin business

Published: Sep 5, 2023 16:52

Source: SMM

Save

An executive of Peruvian mining company Minsur (MINSURI1.LM) spoke on Thursday, August 31, that the company has announced an investment of at least $2 billion within five years to expand its copper and tin business.

SHANGHAI, Sep 5 (SMM) - An executive of Peruvian mining company Minsur (MINSURI1.LM) spoke on Thursday, August 31, that the company has announced an investment of at least $2 billion within five years to expand its copper and tin business. At present, the company only produces copper products in Justa, and other mining projects in Peru are still in the exploration stage.

Data source: the company's 2022 annual report

Gonzalo Quijandria, director of Minsur's corporate affairs, said in a telephone interview with Reuters that Minsur will invest about $543 million in the construction of the underground project of the Justa mine (Minsur indirectly holds 60% of Justa's equity), which is jointly owned by the company and the Chilean mining company Copec (COPEC .SN).

Data source: the company's 2022 annual report

Quijandria said it would also invest $381 million to expand the processing plant and improve the Justa mining area, which began operations in 2021. According to official data, the mine produced 125,488 mt of copper products last year (including 96,400 mt of copper concentrate and 29,000 mt of copper cathode). The life of the mine is expected to be about 15 years. The average grade of copper concentrate is 1.61%, which is the world's seventh largest copper mine.

Minsur also operates the only tin mine in Peru, which accounts for about 9% of global tin metal production. Quijandria said Minsur plans to invest $462 million in its tin production line and another $100 million in tin exploration projects in the country. "They are continuing to invest, including a new tailings dam at the San Rafael mine and improvements to the Pisco smelter," the spokesman said. The specific tin production in 2022 of each mining area is shown in the table below.

Location	Output in 2022 (mt）	Start time	Estimation of Remaining Life
Puno department	22947	1977	5 years
Puno (B2 factory area)	5284	2020
Ica department	26679	1996
Total	54910

Data source: the company's 2022 annual report

Minsur also plans to invest approximately $342 million to modernize its polymetallic producer Minera Raura. The figure below shows the company's metal output trends in recent years.

Data source: the company's 2022 annual report

Market review

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or for more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

7 hours ago

Copper Prices Near Record High Amid Supply Tightness and Strong Demand

Copper prices advanced towards a record closing high as tightening physical supply continued to support the market alongside resilient long-term demand. The London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper contract strengthened as sustained inflows of metal into the United States and increased buying activity from China reduced the availability of copper in other regions. Large volumes of refined copper have been shipped into the U.S. this year as traders positioned ahead of a potential decision on refined copper import tariffs. At the same time, stronger purchasing activity from China has intensified competition for available material, further tightening the physical market. These developments have contributed to copper gaining approximately 14% since the beginning of 2026, building on three consecutive years of annual gains. Beyond near-term supply tightness, the market continues to be supported by long-term demand from power infrastructure, renewable energy, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence-related data centres. However, declining ore grades at existing operations and the increasing cost and complexity of developing new mines continue to constrain future supply growth. The latest price gains highlight a market increasingly influenced by physical supply constraints rather than demand alone. With inventories remaining tight and new mine supply struggling to keep pace with long-term consumption growth, sustained price strength could continue to support investment in mine expansions, brownfield redevelopment and domestic copper processing capacity.

7 hours ago

10 hours ago

Supply-Demand Imbalance Intensifies in China, Blister Copper and Copper Anode RCs Plummet to Yearly Lows [SMM Analysis]

SMM Analysis: The supply-demand imbalance in the market continued to worsen. As of August 7, with all SMM RCs having fallen to their lowest points of the year...

10 hours ago

Japan's Copper Raw Material Procurement System Integration Delayed; PPC New Company Plan Postponed to February 2027 Operation [SMM Analysis]

[Deep Seismic Risks Emerge, Codelco Suspends Andes Norte Expansion Project at El Teniente Copper Mine] Codelco temporarily suspended development and construction activities at the Andes Norte project of the El Teniente copper mine due to potential new-type seismic risks emerging in deep areas, while other production areas of the mine remain in operation. The company will further strengthen seismic monitoring and technical assessment and has not yet announced a resumption time. Andes Norte is an important project for the deep resource succession of El Teniente. This suspension may increase uncertainty over the mine’s medium and long-term production recovery and the commissioning of deep projects.

10 hours ago