1. What do you consider to be the challenges faced by exploration companies in Peru and worldwide?

Globally, exploration companies face the lack of financing for mining investment; and the country risk, translated into governance, social conflicts, regulatory risks; the same that do not guarantee the effectiveness of the exploration activity.

In the national context, and according to the opinion of explorers gathered in executive roundtables and through other means, we have numerous permits and difficult procedures for each one, which does not help with the predictability of exploration permit procedures; in addition, prior consultation is often cumbersome in terms of steps and their execution.

In this regard, the executive has been working to create a favorable context.

From a technical point of view, as we all know, mineral exploration is increasingly complex and tools and/or knowledge that apparently are not directly related to a specific exploration method must be used.

Exploration methods that were used 20 years ago no longer give results and we must innovate. In Peru, the challenge for exploration companies is to understand the geological context of subsoil, geologists must interpret thousands of data and for this they need to apply artificial intelligence, obviously based on geological knowledge.

In that sense, we think that companies that understand how complex magmatism, sedimentology, geochemistry, structural geology, mineralogy can be will be able to find better results, but the most important thing that we should not underestimate is a good geological map.

This is why at INGEMMET we are giving more attributes to the 100K, 50K geological maps and the quality controls of the attributes of databases are carried out with the support of artificial intelligence to reduce errors.

What are the areas at national level that are richest in mineral deposits?

Peru is so big and has such a variety of deposits that we could not say which one is richer, since a geological metallotect that does not have many deposits at the moment could have them in a few years, for example, as was the case of the epithermal Au-Ag deposits hosted in the Callipuy-Miocene volcanics in Cajamarca.

Currently, the geological metallotects with the largest deposits and mining deposits are: The Marañon Fold and Thrust Belt with abundant Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag-Au polymetallic deposits, the Western Cordillera in the North, Center and South with high-intermediate-low sulfidation epithermal deposits, the Pataz Batholith with Au veins, the Coastal Batholith with Cu-Au-Mo porphyries, Andahuaylas-Yauri Batholith with Cu-Fe-Au-Mo porphyries.

And there is still much to explore in these metallotects, for example, mine expansions show us the vertical extension to depth of the mineralized bodies, it is not known to what depth in the crust the mineralized bodies are and what is the lateral extension of the mineralized bodies.

Some of the ore bodies related to porphyries of dacite composition may be related to more than one type of deposit, within the same metallotect or in the host rock. Variations in the composition of the porphyry and host rocks make Peruvian deposits polymetallic and form more than one type of mineral deposit.

3. Recently, the identification of polymetallic zones with Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag and Au potential was reported in Cajamarca. What other regions stand out?

In Bulletin 71B of regional mining geological prospecting in the Cajamarca region, 4 zones were determined to be of greater prospective interest in polymetallic elements in Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag and Au, mainly to the north of the region in the provinces of Jaén and San Ignacio such as: San Antonio (San José del Alto, Jaén) with economic potential with slightly anomalous Cu (456 ppm), Pb (210 ppm) and Zn (714 ppm) values with traces of Au (11 ppb); Buenos Aires (Huabal, Jaén), also with slight anomalies in Ag (6 ppm), Pb (795 ppm) and Zn (2412 ppm), as well as traces of Au (8 ppb) and Cu (182 ppm); Chamanal (San Ignacio), slight anomalies in Ag (2 ppm), Cu (874 ppm), Pb (96 ppm), Zn (344 ppm) and gold at 372 ppb; and Alto Cocharán (La Coipa, Jaén), with slight anomalies in Au (537 ppb), Pb (127 ppm), Sb (60. 7 ppm) and Zn (685 and 225 ppm).

In Peru, other regions producing zinc and lead such as Ancash, Junin, Pasco and Lima; gold such as Cajamarca, La Libertad and Arequipa, silver such as Ancash, Pasco and Junin; as well as copper, Arequipa, Ancash and Apurimac also stand out.

In general, the formation of polymetallic deposits requires the exchange of cations between igneous rocks of felsic composition and intermediate platform limestones, and understanding the preservation of the systems during the shortening of this belt and these types of rocks outcrop along the Marañón fold and thrust belt in central Peru.

How do you estimate Peruvian investments in mining exploration will develop this year?

Already with the experience lived in the pandemic of 2020 and with the much stricter protocols, the mining sector is so strict with them that it will be possible to develop these activities.

What actions does Ingemmet have planned for prospecting and exploration this year?

In the geological role, we will transform data by changing the way we store, analyze and deliver data. We want to ensure that the data we publish is dynamic and can be used by emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, among others.

In the granting role, we are currently working on the online application, so that users can submit a mining application virtually from anywhere in the world.

Our main product, the National Geological Map, has greater attributes that will provide it with artificial intelligence so that our users can take advantage of it in a better way. This will help users to know more about the geological context and thus be able to define more exploration targets.

We will carry out a mapping of the Marañon Fold and Thrust Belt, which is an important metallotect for different types of deposits.

Likewise, in the Eastern Cordillera we are going to survey the Batholith, and I believe that after that we will have new horizons for exploration, as we did in the South of Peru.

If the pandemic conditions allow us to carry out field work, for this year we have programmed to study two ANAPs in the regions of Arequipa and Huancavelica to evaluate their potential. In the same way, new zones with geological mining potential will be identified to define new areas of interest for exploration.

How has Ingemmet been adapting to the pandemic?

By complying with the protocols established by the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and the sector for public administration work, we have been meeting the objectives of the Institutional Operational Plan, with remote, mixed and on-site work.

We are implementing digital transformation and innovating in geological research projects using artificial intelligence and machine learning for the development of products. And above all, training personnel in these technologies.

We have just concluded the migration of our database to an updated version of SIDEMCAT 2020, which will allow interoperability between INGEMMET and other institutions.

Similarly, GEOCATMIN is now more dynamic and has metadata from all the research projects that we have been working on in recent months.

In this context of pandemic, it has been considered essential to have the Online Application, a technological tool developed in INGEMMET that will eliminate the need for users to be physically present for its submission and will make it easier to apply for a mining concession from anywhere in the world.