"Peru has excellent geological potential, a high-level mining cadastre system, but that is not enough. In order for countries to value their natural resources, they must have clear rules," said Walter Tejada, head of country exploration at BHP.

During his participation as a panelist in the Mining Thursday (Jueves Minero) focused on the importance of proEXPLO 2023 and organized by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers, Tejada highlighted the risks involved in investing in mining exploration, both for small and large companies.

"Exploration capital is venture capital, which should be viewed as a pie shared among several countries. So countries have the appetite to access that capital and there are jurisdictions with better conditions than others," he said.

He also explained that investing in mining exploration is mainly based on business decisions, for which they evaluate technical aspects, social risk, the exploration cycle, among others.

"A key message is that the allocation of capital to a country is a business decision that takes several aspects," he emphasized.

Therefore, he suggested that countries such as Peru provide stability and clear rules so that investors can bet on putting their risk capital in this jurisdiction.

"For the investor, clear rules mean seeing that the project has a clear path to move forward, that is extremely important," he said.

Finally, he indicated that our country has an opportunity for improvement in terms of the exploration cycle, as currently the government permitting process to carry out exploration can take 2, 3 or 4 years.

proEXPLO 2023: Descubriendo la Minería del Futuro