Sebastián Benavides, President of proEXPLO 2023, said that global investment will decrease in the next few years and that Peru must be a competitive country.

Eng. Sebastian Benavides, president of proEXPLO 2023, said that in Peru mining projects can take up to 20 years from discovery to production, while in countries with more competitive and transparent mining legislation, such as Chile or the United States, the average maturity time is 13 years.

During Mining Thursday (Jueves Minero) of the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers, he explained that Peru is the sixth destination of world investment in mining exploration, and is expected to receive US$ 450 million in this activity by the end of 2022, thus achieving an increase of 34%, above the global growth of the exploration budget.

However, he contextualized that 50% of the investment in exploration in our country is destined to projects close to the mine and at an advanced stage, and only a small portion is used to search for new deposits, compared to Canada or Australia, where projects from scratch are preferred due to the lower risk offered by both countries.

In this way, he acknowledged that there has been a drop in the discovery of new mines, mainly copper and gold, since 2010, due to lower investment in greenfield projects, increased bureaucracy for obtaining permits, high drilling costs and technical challenges for the investigation of deep and under-cover deposits.

In addition, he estimated that global copper demand will reach its highest peak in 2035, which is an opportunity for Peru to become the main supplier, and therefore it will be essential to re-drive the discovery of exceptional deposits, rethink and re-evaluate sub-economic deposits and reuse environmental liabilities and mine tailings.

Preparing for the future

He recalled that Peru has a portfolio of mining projects in exploration worth US$ 586 million, with 90% of the total investment in greenfield initiatives, with gold (43.4%) and copper (36.1%) being the minerals with the highest priority, and with the northern (34.5%), southern (32.6%) and central (32.4%) regions as areas of intervention.

"Early exploration investments today will pay off in 20 to 30 years; therefore, we must explore and create a healthy portfolio of good projects that will put Peru as a leading mining supplier in the medium and long term. And for this, we first need to be more competitive to attract the greatest possible investment in exploration," he stressed.

Sebastián commented that the trend towards the construction of a 'green world' poses a future growing demand for metals such as copper and lithium, among others, so we must be smart and prepare ourselves for this excellent scenario, which will serve to promote the country's development.

proEXPLO at the current juncture

Finally, Sebastián Benavides highlighted that proEXPLO 2023, the most important mining exploration congress in Latin America, to be held May 8-10 in Lima, will showcase Peru's geological potential to the world, as well as investment plans in exploration projects and the contribution of geological knowledge and new technologies.

Within the framework of this event organized by the IIMP, an agenda of central activities will be developed, such as Road to proEXPLO (Rumbo a proEXPLO), short courses, round tables, field trips, student competitions and keynote speeches, in addition to promoting discussion on issues related to sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and research and academia.

"proEXPLO 2023 has the slogan "Discovering the mining of the future" and is supported by companies committed to the development of world-class deposits in Peru and other regions, such as Anglo American, Antamina and BHP. There is great optimism for the information and successful experiences that will be shared at this important congress," he remarked.

proEXPLO 2023: Descubriendo la Minería del Futuro