Peru is of potential geological importance: it is the country with the largest silver reserves in the world, the second in molybdenum, copper and zinc reserves; and the sixth in gold reserves. The opportunities offered by Peru have turned it into one of the countries in the region where the largest mining investment takes place, with outstanding results and the participation of worldwide leading mining companies.
New opportunities in mining. Regulatory structure Regulation. What is the regulatory framework for the exploration and extraction of mineral resources? Regulatory framework The State is the original owner of all natural resources including minerals located within the territory, and is entitled to grant rights in favour of national and foreign individuals or companies in accordance with the regulations applicable to each sector Peruvian Constitution.
The law provides that mining activities of reconnaissance and prospecting are free throughout the national territory, while exploration, exploitation, general works, processing and mineral transportation activities can only be performed if a mining right concession is previously granted by the Peruvian State.
The mining industry in Peru is divided into four segments according to the respective capacity for production and processing of minerals:. Large scale. Mining holders with a production and processing capacity greater than 5, tonnes per day TPD.
Medium scale. Mining holders with a production and processing capacity of between and 5, TPD. Small scale. Mining holders with a production and processing capacity of between 25 and TPD. Artisanal scale.
Mining holders with a production and processing capacity up to 25 TPD. The central government, through its competent entities, is responsible for supervising the activities performed by medium and large-scale miners, while the respective regional government is responsible for the supervision of small and artisanal scale mining activities see below, The regulatory authorities. Regulatory authorities The mining industry is regulated by various authorities, each focusing on administrative, environmental, health and safety, among other matters.
The main agencies of the Peruvian State which regulate mining activities are the:. Additionally, it is the entity responsible for:. The OEFA is the entity responsible for supervising and imposing sanctions to titleholders of mining activities, in the event of any failure to comply with the applicable environmental regulation. The entity is in charge of supervising compliance with the health and safety regulation applicable to mining activities.
Ownership 3. How are rights to the mineral resources held, and who holds those rights? What are the key features of the leases, licences or concessions that are issued under the regulatory regime? Can these rights be leased by the right-holder? Under the General Mining Law, concessions for mining activities are divided into four classes:. Mining concessions. These grant holders the right to explore and exploit mine for or produce mineral resources within the area covered by the concession whose boundaries are determined through Universal Transverse Mercator UTM co-ordinates.
Processing concessions. These grant holders the right to process, smelt or refine minerals. General works concessions. These grant holders the right to carry out ancillary services, such as ventilation, sewerage, hoisting or underground access, at one or more mining concessions. Mining transportation concessions. These grant holders the right to operate a transportation system to transport mineral products between one or more mining units and a processing plant or refinery, using:.
Mining concessions are classified into metallic and non-metallic, and are granted in areas consisting of a minimum of hectares and a maximum of 1, hectares concessions located at sea can have an area of up to 10, hectares. Concessions can be transferred, assigned or mortgaged. Any such transfer, assignment or mortgage must be recorded at the Public Registry for it to be enforceable against the Peruvian State and any third parties.
There is no limit as to the number of concessions that can be held by a single mining company. In addition to the mining rights and access to the surface land, holders must obtain various permits in order to perform their operations, including the:. Certificate of inexistence of archaeological remains. Authorisation for the discharge of treated wastewater.
Global authorisation for the use of explosives and related supplies. Licence for the handling of explosives. Operating licence for the storage of explosives. Fees From the year in which the mining application is made and as a requirement for such request , the mining holder must pay a licence fee Article 39, General Mining Law. This payment must be made annually and is calculated per hectare of the relevant mining concession, being:. USD3 for medium and large scale.
Additionally, in the case of failure to comply with the minimum production or minimum investment obligations see below , the mining holder must pay a penalty. Mining concessions oblige their holders to invest in the exploration and exploitation production of minerals. Therefore, mining holders are obliged to obtain, no later than by the expiration of the tenth year calculated from the following year in which the title was granted, an annual production per hectare minimum production of:.
In the event that minimum production is not reached by said tenth year, a penalty must be imposed per year and per hectare for the equivalent to:. If the mining holder invests no less than ten times the amount of the corresponding penalty for the relevant mining concession minimum investment , the application of the penalty is avoided.
However, if the minimum production is not reached at the end of 30 years counted since the following year in which the title concession was granted , the termination of the mining concession must be declared by the INGEMMET. Liability According to the General Environmental Law, any person or company who causes damage to the environment or to the quality of life, health or assets of one or more individuals, by means of the use or exploitation of an asset or by the execution of an activity, must assume all the costs related to prevention and mitigation measures cost internalisation principle.
Restrictions Any person or company, whether national or foreign subsidiary or branch , may request a mining application or directly acquire a mining concession from a third party that is already a titleholder.
As an exception to the general rule, foreign nationals or companies owned by foreign nationals must obtain a special authorisation to be able to acquire mining concessions or other assets within 50 kilometres of the borders see Question 8. There are certain pre-determined natural protected areas within the Peruvian territory. The regulation of said areas establishes several categories, allowing different degrees of activities within the relevant area and the associated buffer zone, as more specifically determined by the internal master plan for each area.
Full access to 1m statistics Incl. Single Account. View for free. Show source. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? Log in. More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic. Bruna Alves. Research expert covering energy and environment. Profit from additional features with an Employee Account.
Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Profit from additional features by authenticating your Admin account. Then you will be able to mark statistics as favourites and use personal statistics alerts. Save statistic in. XLS format. PNG format. PDF format.
0コメント