What are the objectives of the 12th Congress of Prospectors and Explorers (proEXPLO 2021) organized by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP)?

ProEXPLO has been playing an essential role in Peruvian mining exploration, as it has brought together stakeholders from industry, academia, government entities and investors, creating a diversified space for the exchange of ideas.

For this edition, the congress slogan is "Mineral Resources for a Sustainable Future", allowing us to focus not only on business, but also on a look at how we can establish better environmental and social practices in the future. Exploration and mining want to go beyond their business in conjunction with the Government, the third sector and universities, to drive a movement to transform society for a better future for all.

Similarly, this proEXPLO edition has much from the President of the Organizing Committee, Eng. Enrique Garay, who is a very pragmatic person; therefore, emphasis is being given to fundamental issues such as innovation and success in exploration; because I believe that looking at discoveries that occurred in the past will help us succeed in the future.

Another fundamental aspect that will be covered in this congress will be the optimal transition from project to mine. We always focus a lot on the project or the mine; but the transition is a very risky stage. Therefore, having talks and specific discussions about this is very interesting.

How is work progressing regarding the keynote speeches for proEXPLO 2021?

Conference topics will be very interesting and the pandemic is "to blame" for this; because with the pandemic, the event went online and this has made it easier for us to bring in top professionals, people who are very expert in their fields. In addition to proEXPLO's technical talks, the keynote speeches are worth attending, as they will be highly informative.

What do you think will be the contribution of proEXPLO 2021 to Peruvian mining?

I would say the contribution would be to global mining because Peru is a very important player in the industry. We are the second largest producer of copper, silver and zinc. We are a leading country in mining; and I believe proEXPLO is key as it brings together many players.

The words I would use to highlight the contribution of the congress are “connecting people”, as it will bring together different actors; “teaching” because of the knowledge gained in each talk; “exchanging” because it gives the opportunity to share something with the community; and “meeting people” from Peru and other parts of the world.

What takeaway do you want participants to take home at the end of proEXPLO 2021?

We want people to feel that they can be better professionals and people; that they leave proEXPLO 2021 as a more developed collaborative network with new tools to be more successful in their mining work, in academia, in their government position or in the industry in general.

There is also a word that we must all bear in mind and that is cooperation, we have to work together, we have to share information and look for solutions to make the mining industry and the planet a better place to live; we have to look for better societies and this pandemic has given us time to reflect, and each of us has to come out of this pandemic as better humans and professionals. So let's cooperate with each other to have a better future.

At the beginning you mentioned the importance of achieving a socially and environmentally friendly project. How can this be achieved, especially considering Peru's situation?

Society has changed a lot. If you look back 100 years ago, deforest a jungle to build a road and cities was a synonym of development; today it is a synonym of destruction. Currently we want preserved ecosystems, high biodiversity, responsible use of natural resources and societies that are in harmony with the industrial activities being developed in their environment.

As such, old practices would no longer exist in today's world, so we must first connect with local communities and together design the plan for how the mine will be and how the explorations will take place.

Treat local communities not as actors, but as partners in the project, because in many cases they have owned the land for many centuries. And there are examples of this. In the past no one would have imagined having a mine high in the Andes; or in the middle of the Andes or in the desert drawing water from the sea to do the processing and not using a drop of fresh water.

So these are things that are possible and are happening today in Peru, things that were never imagined in the past; but there is much more to come and many more wonderful things that mining can implement to be better.

What are the main characteristics of Peruvian geology? Is there any particular factor that makes Peru stand out from other mining countries?

Peru has a large stretch of the Andes Mountains, which is one of the most productive in terms of metallic minerals. In addition, apart from the formations of magmatic arcs, Peru has a large amount of limestone and salt deposition; this combination is not found in any other country in the region.

So, Peru has a part of the Andes that is developed over limestone, which makes it very special in terms of porphyry skarn type deposit and allows it to have silver and zinc; and it also has the traditional Andes with large porphyries as well as Chile; this is why Peru is also a great producer of copper and will continue to be so.

On the subject of copper, do you think it will cease to be an important metal as some experts say?

One of the talks in proEXPLO and that will be in charge of Msc. Eco. Erik Heimlich, a CRU expert, is a good opportunity to learn about the short and long term fundamentals of copper in the global market. In general, copper is seen as a metal that will be increasingly demanded by humanity.

Part of the copper consumed by humanity comes from recycling, from electronic devices that we have; but there is a lot of this metal that must be extracted from the earth because humanity still needs infrastructure, hospitals, electricity, basic things to continue living in good conditions; and as the experts say, they have good grounds for the next two or three decades.

After that time, there may be surprises; on top of that, in the next two decades the world will stop resorting to hydrocarbons and burning fossil fuels to move their cars and industries to an electric world, and in an electric world a lot of copper is used. For example, a normal gasoline car uses between 20-25 kg of copper and an electric car uses between 75-80 kg; and now we are already seeing in other parts of the world that the fleet of cars that run on hydrocarbons is already being replaced by hybrid or electric cars.