On January 27, the presentation of the 12th edition of the International Congress of Prospectors and Explorers (proEXPLO 2021), one of the main geological-mining events in Latin America, organized by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP), which will be held from March 22 to 26, 2021 in an entirely virtual format, took place.

"Our goal with proEXPLO 2021, under the slogan "Mineral resources for a sustainable future", is to disseminate among the communities of prospectors, explorers, investors and the general public that in the future we will need mineral resources that will help us to have a cleaner world", said the president of the Organizing Committee, Eng. Enrique Garay.

The conferences will be held during 5 days; the thematic sessions will be held in the mornings, while the technical program will take place in the afternoons. As for the first ones, there will be two sessions for junior mining companies and one session by the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (Ingemmet).

Also, the organizers highlighted that for the first time there will be a session for prospectors and a talk dedicated to the contribution of women in the advancement of exploration in Peru. On the last day of the thematic sessions there will be a special round table about Peru on the road to CRIRSCO.

On the other hand, they detailed that the sessions of the technical program are focused on three pillars: Innovation in mining exploration, Economic geology and From discovery to mine. Sixty technical papers will be presented virtually, from a total of 94 abstracts received from different countries; and 5 short pre-congress and 3 post-congress courses will be presented.

The ProEXPLO 2021 Organizing Committee consists of Enrique Garay Manyari, President of proEXPLO 2021; Silvia Rosas Lizárraga, Senior Advisor; Sebastian Benavides Kolind-Hansen, Head of Technical Talks; Ángel Mondragón Dávila, Head of Project Fair; and Jean Vallance, Head of Pre and Post Congress Courses.

Completing this list are Carlos Urrea Farias, Responsible for Technology Exhibition and Sponsorship; César Farfán Bernales, Responsible for Keynote Lectures; Alberto Arispe Bazán, Responsible for Project Fair; Jonas Mota e Silva, Responsible for Keynote Speeches; Andres Recalde, Responsible for Technology Exhibition and Sponsorship.

For more information on the event, please visit: https://www.proexplo.com.pe/es.

Mining Exploration

During a press conference, the president of proEXPLO 2021, Enrique Garay, highlighted the importance of explorations to give continuity to our mining, which will be essential for the future of the country, and the economic reactivation after the pandemic.

"Unfortunately with the price of gold, at 1850 dollars an ounce, and copper, at 8000 dollars a ton, we have no new projects. They have all been discovered 15 years ago," the expert said.

In this sense, he remarked that it will be crucial to place the importance of mining on the political agenda. "Of the 23 presidential candidates, I have only heard one or two talk about mining. Most of them are afraid to talk about it," he remarked.

For his part, Miguel Cardozo, vice-president of the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP), remembers that in 2020 the country fell notably with respect to 2019, by 31% in exploration, while the world fell 10% due to problems referred to the pandemic.

In this regard, he emphasized that in addition to the pandemic, the major obstacle to mining exploration is the lack of competitiveness due to the permitting and prior consultation processes. He pointed out that greenfield explorations must be increased.