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PeruMining 2021-Web Preview
PeruMining 2021-Web Preview
PeruMining 2021-Web Preview
P ERU
B I CE N T E N N I A L E D I T I O N
PERU
MINING
2021
What does a Perú Libre government mean for Peruvian mining? If Covid-19 was the
dominant theme of 2020, then the ramifications of a new government has undoubtedly
been the prominent talking point in over 120 interviews conducted by Global Business
Reports (GBR) in the first half of 2021. Could the situation mirror the Ollanta Humala
presidency in 2011, when he rose to power on the back of anti-establishment rhetoric,
but soon cooperated with market actors when faced with economic reality?
In 2020, investment into Peru’s mining industry totaled US$4.33 billion, a decrease of
over 29% from the US$6.15 billion spent in 2019, according to MINEM figures. How-
ever, the market has rebounded well in 2021. Producers have been looking to make
up for time lost during the three-month lockdown in 2020, spurred on by the surging
copper price, which hit an all-time-high in May 2021, and has remained over US$4/
lb since February.
A bullish sentiment surrounding copper from a medium to long term perspective was
already evident, but few could have predicted how the red metal would thrive during
a global pandemic. Macro fundamentals, such as the growing electric vehicle (EV)
movement and planned infrastructure spending, present a tremendous opportunity for
Peru as the world’s second largest copper producer. To fulfill this potential, political
stability and addressing a cumbersome permitting process are urgent.
To cover these topics and provide a comprehensive guide to the different companies
involved in Peru’s mining value chain, GBR has renewed its strategic partnership with
the Canada-Peru Chamber of Commerce (CCCP). CCCP is the country’s leading bi-
national mining chamber, and promotes commercial relations and investment as well
as organizing the Peruvian annual presence at the PDAC Convention in Toronto. The
result of this collaboration is the production and distribution of ‘Industry Explorations
- Peru Mining 2021’, an up-to-date review of the current operations and projects and
the latest trends in Peru's mining industry.
We thank all of our interviewees for their time and collaboration. We also thank you for
choosing Peru Mining 2021 as your source of information about Peru’s mining industry
and hope it can contribute to a successful year ahead.
COLOMBIA
Introduction to Mining in Peru 52. Copper Exploration Equipment and Technology
54. Interview with ELEMENT 29 RESOURCES
8. Peru enters a new era – 55. Interview with CAMINO CORPORATION 98. OEMs focus on productivity
What will a Castillo government mean 57. Interview with FORTE MINERALS CORP 100. Interview with FERREYROS S.A.
for Peruvian mining? 58. Precious Metals Exploration 101. Interview with IPESA
12. Interviews with the PERUVIAN INSTITUTE 60. Interview with TIER ONE SILVER 102. Interviews with KOMATSU-MITSUI
OF MINING ENGINEERS (IIMP) and with 61. Interviews with SILVER X and MAQUINARIAS DEL PERU and
LIMA STOCK EXCHANGE (BVL) with PUCARA GOLD LTD. with CUMMINS
Quito
13. Interview with CANADA PERU CHAMBER 62. Zinc 103. Interview with EPIROC
OF COMMERCE (CCCP) 62. Lithium and Uranium 104. Underground Mining Equipment
14. Factsheet 64. Interview with CERRO DE PASCO 105. Interview with DSI UNDERGROUND
ECUADOR 15. Thoughts – Political and Social Analysis RESOURCES 106. Interviews with NORMET PERU and
16. Peru’s copper opportunity 65. Interview with AMERICAN LITHIUM with RESEMIN S.A.
19. Interview with ANGLO AMERICAN PERU 107. Construction and Ancillary Equipment
20. Interview with BEAR CREEK MINING 108. Interview with SCANIA PERÚ
21. Sustainability Engineering, Construction and 109. Interviews with VOLVO PERU and
24. Interview with ENGIE ENERGÍA PERÚ Consultants with DIVEMOTOR
Tumbes 25. Interviews with INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL 110. Equipment Components
Iquitos 68. Engineering and EPCM
TUMBES ON MINING & METALS (ICMM) and with 111. Interviews with FUCSA FUNDICIÓN
APPIAN CAPITAL ADVISORY LLP 70. Interviews with WSP PERU and with CHILCA S.A. and with REXROTH
LORETO
AUSENCO 112. Comminution and Material Handling
71. Interview with WORLEY 114. Interview with METSO OUTOTEC
PIURA
Mining Production 72. Mining Consultancies 115. Interview with WEIR MINERALS PERU
Piura 74. Interview with SRK CONSULTING 116. Interview with MARTIN ENGINEERING
AMAZONAS 28. Copper Production 75. Interview with SANTA BARBARA 117. Interview with TECNOMINA
Moyobamba 30. Interview with MMG-LAS BAMBAS CONSULTANTS 118. Interview with ACEROS CHILCA
Chachapoyas 76. Interviews with AMC CONSULTANTS,
LAMBAYEQUE 31. Interview with HUDBAY MINERALS INC. 119. Innovation and Technology
CAJAMARCA BRAZIL 32. Interview with MINSUR EY PERU and with MINING PLUS 122. Interview with SITECH
Chiclayo
SAN 33. Interview with SOUTHERN PEAKS MINING 77. Environmental and Tailings 123. Interviews with TORSA and with 3M
Cajamarca MARTÍN
34. Factsheet Management
South
LA LIBERTAD
36. Precious Metals 79. Interview with AMPHOS 21
Pacific
Trujillo Pucallpa 80. Interview with KLOHN CRIPPEN BERGER Service Providers
Ocean 38. Interview with GOLD FIELDS
39. Interview with BUENAVENTURA 81. Construction and Contractors
ÁNCASH 40. Interviews with HOCHSCHILD MINING and 83. Interviews with STRACON and 126. Drilling
HUÁNUCO with MINERA PODEROSA with CALIDRA 127. Interview with BOART LONGYEAR
Huaraz
Huánuco 41. Factsheet 84. Interview with PERÚ PIPING SPOOLS 128. Interview with AK DRILLING
UCAYALI
42. Zinc 85. Underground Contractors INTERNATIONAL
PASCO 86. Interview with AESA
43. Interview with NEXA RESOURCES PERU 130. Interview with GEOTEC
Cerro de Pasco
44. MAP – Peru’s Main Producing Mines 88. Interview with INCIMMET 131. Interview with MDH
90. Interview with BYRNECUT OFFSHORE 132. Third Party Services
LIMA
JUNÍN 91. Interview with JRC INGENIERÍA Y 134. Interview with CERTIMIN
Lima MADRE DE DIOS
Junior Exploration CONSTRUCCIÓN 135. Interview with CONFIPETROL ANDINA
Huancayo
92. Raise Boring and Shotcrete Specialists 137. Interviews with SK RENTAL, ACOINSA
Callao
CUSCO
Puerto Maldonado 48. The Junior sector reignites 93. Interview with MASTER DRILLING and with STIERLIFT
Huancavelica 94. Interview with ROBOCON
50. Interview with SOMBRERO RESOURCES 138. Company Directory
HUANCAVELICA Ayacucho
51. Interview with CHAKANA COPPER 95. Interview with MONTALI S.A. 142. Credits
Cusco
Peru Ica
Abancay
APURÍMAC
International Boundary AYACUCHO
ICA PUNO
BOLIVIA
Province Boundary
National Capital
Introduction Mining Junior
Province Capital
AREQUIPA
Puno Titicaca to Peru Production Exploration
N
Arequipa
New government, Editorial analysis and A rejuvenated junior segment
MOQUEGUA La Paz copper booming, and a interviews with Peru’s means drills are turning and
PERU MINING 2021
Industry Explorations sustainable agenda main copper, gold, silver new companies are listing
Global Business Reports Moquegua
TACNA and zinc producers
This research has been conducted by Tacna
Ben Cherrington, Susana Isotupa
and Mariolga Guyon
Edited by Mungo Smith
8, 16, 21 28, 36, 42 48, 50, 58, 62
Graphic design by Gonzalo Da Cunha
- Tom McCulley,
CEO,
Anglo American Peru
Acknowledging that the current situation might seem similar by a majority of parties which favor the market economy and Gold Fields’ executive vice president of position to rebound strongly in 2021.
to the period before Humala was elected, political commen- private investment as the main driver of the economy. the Americas. Whether this potential is realized is an-
tator and CEO of Viceversa Consulting, Oscar Díaz, warned This sentiment was echoed by Claudia Cooper, president of Expanding on this point, Víctor Gob- other question, and the first months of
that there are two fundamental differences from the context the Lima Stock Exchange (BVL) and former finance minister, itz elaborated: “The mining industry is the Castillo administration will give an
today. “First, Humala signed a roadmap towards the second who emphasized the mining sector’s role in both short-term When you are elected as so important to the country that there indication of what can be expected mov-
round of the election, which represented a moderation of recovery and long-term macroeconomic stability: “It is not president and have to run should be a defined mining policy, in ing forward.
his discourse. Second, he never threatened to close the con- possible to think about fiscal consolidation and sustainable a country whose economy the same way Peru has solid tax policies 2021 is more than just an election year
gress, nationalize industries, or disregard international agree- growth without the mining sector, and this needs to be un- and macroeconomic policies. This would for Peru, it is also recognized as the bi-
ments, like Castillo is doing.” derstood by our country’s authorities.”
is based on mining, you assure continuity regardless of govern- centennial anniversary of the country’s
However, Díaz agreed that Castillo will not be able to nation- According to the IMF, Peru is expected to experience the need to start making ment changes.” independence. However, Roque Bena-
alize the mining industry, as nationalization implies paying strongest recovery in Latin America in 2021 (9% growth), but alliances and thinking Streamlining permitting should be top vides believes that the real bicentennial
huge amounts of money to the affected companies. On June this will be put in jeopardy if protectionist policies that do about improving mining of the agenda for the next mining min- anniversary of Peru’s independence is, in
27th, Castillo stated his willingness to reappoint the head of not attract foreign investment are implemented. Speaking ister, with adjustments to the prior con- fact, in 2024, 200 years after the last bat-
the country’s central bank, Julio Velarde, in a market-friendly in February, Michael Scherb, founder and CEO of Appian
development, otherwise the sultation law of paramount importance tle against the Spaniards was fought. On
move which indicates a path of moderation may be possible. Capital Advisory LLP, stated that he would like to increase economy will fail. to stimulate investment into early-stage that note, he gave a final message to the
Furthermore, Perú Libre will have to contend with a divided Appian’s position in Peru, where the company’s head of La- exploration. “It is essential that political Peruvian mining community: “In these
Congress. tam and COO (Igor Gonzales, formerly of Sierra Metals) is leaders establish consensus and guaran- next three years, the private and public
- Fernando Pickmann,
“Politicians in Peru are similar to politicians all over the world. based. However, he warned: “I speak with the ministers of tee an environment of stability, predict- sectors have to work together to take
They promise a number of things, but do not realize that mines of many countries, and we are clear with the point that Partner, ability and compliance with deadlines,” advantage of the opportunities in front
there are checks and balances in place. In the case of Peru, our capital will go to the path of least resistance and best Dentons said Jorge León Benavides, president of of us,” he said, imploring the industry to
this means the conformation of Congress,” reflected Roque risk-reward.” the Canada Peru Chamber of Commerce become more involved in civil society.
Benavides, chairman of Buenaventura. If Peru is to rebound successfully from the economic devas- (CCCP). “I would say that Peru has a brilliant fu-
Orlando Marchesi, country senior partner at PwC Peru, stated tation caused by Covid-19, a middle ground will have to be Soaring metals prices in 2021 have been ture,” added Benavides, concluding that
that it will be almost impossible for Castillo to carry out any found between Castillo’s ideals and the financial reality of a a catalyst for renewed optimism, and a the election has shown the need to be
expropriations, as the Congress, which was elected during country hugely dependent on its mining industry. mature, well-run mining industry with a more active in contributing to the well-
the first round of presidential elections in April, is made up deep pool of local talent puts Peru in the being of the country. ■
10 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 11
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
12 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 13
FA C T S H E E T Global Business Reports Industry Explorations THOUGHTS
Peru At a Glance
Source: IMF, data for 2020
GDP Evolution In US Dollar Value
Source: IMF
Political and
CAPITAL
Lima Billion US$
220.19
Social Analysis
230
HEAD OF STATE (projected)
Pedro Castillo, Perú Libre 220
210
202.01
GDP
US$202.01 billion 200 “Covid-19 has been the fuel on the fire of a long-standing and deep-rooted social and
GDP GROWTH 190 political problem in Latin America. Latam is home to 8% of the global population, but has
-11.15% 180 accounted for 18% of Covid cases and 20% of Covid deaths. Why has the region performed
TOTAL INVESTMENT (% OF GDP) 170 so poorly in the face of the pandemic? Commentators have been quick to point out
17.82% 160 populist presidents in Brazil and Mexico who were skeptical of imposing lockdowns,
GROSS NATIONAL SAVINGS (% OF GDP) 150 however that was not the case in Peru which also suffered high death rates. There is
19.1% 140 something more endemic and pernicious at play, and the root cause is inequality.”
CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE (% OF GDP) 130
-1.5% 120 - Michael Cullen,
110 Managing Director – Latin America,
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 FTI Consulting
US$6,127
Source: IMF
US$
8,500
- Orlando Marchesi,
8,000
Country Senior Partner,
PwC Peru
7,500
7,000
GDP PER CAPITA (PPP) 6,127
6,500
“Many companies in Peru that struggle with social licensing have been around for
US$11,879 6,000
5,500
5,000
decades, and sometimes have a bad reputation due to legacy issues, or if they were in
a region where there has been historical conflict between mining and communities. On
4,500
the other hand, companies which have entered the Peruvian market recently have been
4,000
successful in obtaining their social license to operate. Establishing good relationships
INFLATION RATE 3,500
with the community from the start is key to accelerate the process.”
3,000
14 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 15
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations
10
“Copper is the new oil,” stated Gold-
man Sachs in May 2021, citing a surge 5
in green capex combined with the lack - Rómulo Mucho, General
0
of copper mining projects as the fac- Manager, Pevoex
1992 1997 2002 2007 2022 2027 2032 2037
tors that will lead to a multi-year bull
market. Trafigura, the world’s biggest
copper trader, sees the red metal hit- is expected to move into production in Global EV + PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Elec-
ting US$15,000 a ton (US$7.50/lb) in 2024, according to CEO of Nexa Peru, tric Vehicle) sales reached 3.24 million in
the coming years, according to head of Ricardo Porto, who stated: “There is a lot 2020, compared to 2.26 million for 2019,
copper trading, Kostas Bintas. “Copper of talk about a commodities supercycle and are expected to rise to over 21 mil-
demand is going to be psychedelic,” and the one commodity that is indisput- lion units by 2030. The average petrol
proclaimed Robert Friedland, speaking ably linked to this cycle is copper.” engine vehicle requires 20 kg of copper, have predicted how quickly demand
at Mines and Money London in Novem- Quite simply, everyone is bullish on a hybrid 40 kg, and a plug-in EV 109 kg, would pick up in the short-term, par-
ber 2020 (caveat: he also sells copper). copper, and for good reason. From in- while the cars of the future will need as ticularly in the context of a global pan-
Precious metals producers are on the frastructure-based government stimulus much as 163 kg of the metal. As an ex- demic where economic growth has been
hunt for copper deposits, with Barrick packages, to ‘the green reset’ where Eu- ample of how quickly the switch towards sluggish at best. Surging demand from
chief Mark Bristow describing it as “a rope and the USA are all aligned in their EVs could be completed, in July 2021 China and dwindling copper warehouse
fantastic strategic asset”. Producers of plans to move away from fossil fuels, the the European Union proposed an effec- stocks sent the red metal to an all-time-
other base metals, such as zinc-focused transition will be driven by copper, sup- tive ban for new fossil-fuel cars starting high in May 2021, with futures trading
Nexa Resources, are looking to develop plying material for solar, wind, energy in 2035. over US$4.80, a remarkable figure less
copper projects. In the case of Nexa, its storage systems, electric vehicles (EVs) Although the mid to long-term consen- than a year since copper had cratered to
Magistral greenfield property in Ancash and EV charging stations. sus on copper is favorable, few could 4-year low of US$2.10/lb in March 2020.
Peru, as the world’s second largest cop-
per producer, will undoubtedly benefit
from rising prices. However, there is a
pervasive feeling that the country could
produce a lot more than it currently
does. Multiple large-scale projects re-
main undeveloped, stuck in a quagmire
of permitting complications and commu-
nity conflicts. Even projects with permits
in hand, such as Tía María – the poster-
child of undeveloped Peruvian mining
assets – are not guaranteed to get the
green light, as emphasized by former
president Martín Vizcarra, who stated
that the project would never be devel-
oped under his administration.
If the struggle has been difficult under
moderate governments, how much
worse could it get under Castillo? Which
bank would fund a project when the
State is threatening to take 70% profit?
“Peru produces 2.5 million tonnes of copper annually, so ev- of the momentum that high metals prices bring. Not only to
ery cent the copper price goes up represents an additional aid economic recovery, but also because the country’s post- What is the status of the Quellaveco development, and when do you expect
US$50 million in revenue. It is an opportunity the country can- Quellaveco pipeline lacks major greenfield projects. production to start?
not miss,” stated Rómulo Mucho, general manager of Pevoex Money alone will not be enough to ensure projects are given Covid has created a lot of challenges, particularly from a logistics standpoint, but
and president of Agromin 2021. The event, taking place in the green light, as lengthy permitting processes and social our team and contractors have handled it as well as possible. For instance, we
November 2021, looks at creating synergies between mining tension have resulted in a number of high-quality projects be- do approximately 500 random Covid tests per week, in addition around 3,500 to
and agriculture, two industries with intrinsic links to local co- ing held back. 4,000 pre-boarding PCR tests per week. From an overall construction standpoint,
mmunities. “The government does not think mining deserves a dedicated Quellaveco is now over 50% construction complete (as of May 2021). On the opera-
Indeed, unification should be the operative word for the newly State policy, and that damages the industry’s prospects. In- tional side, we have had four autonomous trucks running for over two months now,
elected Perú Libre regime, as conflicting interests have con- vestment arrives in countries with legal and political stability,” with one shovel up and running and a second shovel set to be commissioned in July.
tributed to an unstable political backdrop. Marcobre’s Mina observed Rómulo Mucho, who added that a dedicated, pro- We expect Quellaveco be fully operational in 2022. The exact date is Covid de-
Justa moved into production in July 2021, and combined with active State policy could expedite projects which would yield pendent to some degree, but this is a goal we expect to achieve. We should start
Anglo American’s Quellaveco, due to start in 2022, Peru has good returns. mining ore by the end of 2021, as the project transitions from construction to op-
a platform to produce 3 million tonnes of copper annually by These projects include Jinzhao Mining’s Pampa de Pongo, eration.
2023. However, ironing out social conflicts and establishing a
semblance of political continuity will be key for Peru to con-
tinue this upward trend and close the supply gap with Chile.
particularly attractive with iron ore trading over US$200 per
tonne, and the Río Blanco mine in Piura, which would add over
200,000 mt/y of copper, but mining is pretty much banned in
Tom Can you tell us about Anglo American’s agreement with ENGIE Energía Peru
to provide renewable energy to Quellaveco via the Punta Lomitas wind farm?
this region of Northern Peru, according to Mucho. Even areas
where mining is widely accepted, such as the mining corridor
McCulley We sat down with ENGIE Energía Peru just before Covid to start talking about
what opportunities we have for green energy, and the deal was put together in the
Stimulating Project Development of southern Peru, have seen road blockades which caused a span of less than a year. This sends a message to the mining industry and to Peru
loss of sales worth more than US$500 million to MMG-Las that renewable energy is feasible, and we are very proud to be the first mine in the
With copper trading above US$4/lb since February, free cash Bambas. country that powers its entire operation via renewables. Quellaveco will require
flow is expected to fuel expansions, technology investments, Another of Peru’s copper producers with a project subject to a approximately 187 megawatts, and even on a global level there are very few mines
exploration and M&A. In addition to the need to make up for judiciary process is Southern Peaks Mining (SPM) and its Ariana of this scale that source 100% of their energy from renewable sources. We are very
time lost during the 2020 lockdown, there is some urgency asset. Adolfo Vera, SPM’s president and CEO, weighed in on CEO glad to support additional investment in Peru and the agreement we have with
for Peru to expedite project development and take advantage the matter: “Ariana is a project that SPM will definitely build, ANGLO AMERICAN PERU Engie will provide more jobs to the people of Peru.
as I have always maintained, because there is no technical sup-
port for any of the claims of those who oppose the project.” How do the Caterpillar 794 AC autonomous mining trucks using Command for
SPM hopes to be able to restart construction by the end of Hauling at Quellaveco compare to traditional vehicles?
2021, with production to start by the end of 2022. Vera stated At the moment we are going through a learning curve to see how we can get the
that once in production, Ariana will be a low cost producer, best out of the trucks. For example, when the shovel operator fills up a manual
adding 20,000 mt/y copper concentrate to the company’s pro- truck, if he overflows the load it does not matter, but with an autonomous truck it
file. does matter, because if you drop a rock in the way of an autonomous truck it will
The importance of stimulating project development goes far not operate as it will detect a hazard. However, we expect a significant productivity
beyond the royalties and taxes paid to the government, as improvement in the coming months and years, especially when all the trucks be-
the largest projects create vast ecosystems of suppliers, who come autonomous. We expect between a 10% to 30% improvement in productivity
in turn provide for their families, generating wealth spent in compared to a traditional fleet.
industries such as agriculture, hospitality and consumer goods. At Quellaveco we also made a commitment to the community, that even though we
A large percentage of the 120 companies interviewed for the are using automous trucks we will still hire the same amout of people as we would
2021 edition of GBR’s Peru Mining publication are actively in a manual operation, but some of the jobs will be different than before and we will
working on Anglo American’s US$5 billion capex Quellaveco train the people to be able to work in an digital mine.
project, from engineering through to equipment components,
catering and maintenance. Copper is often talked about in We are very proud to be What are some of Anglo American’s initiatives to increase the participation of
macro terms – the role it will play in the energy transition – but the first mine in Peru that women at its operations?
the jobs it creates also sustain countless families on a micro Across the company this has been a big focus and we are at about 25% participation
powers its entire operation via
level in countries such as Peru and Chile. of women at Quellaveco. It is important to create an inclusive environment where
Discussing the progress of Quellaveco, Tom McCulley, CEO
renewables. all workers feel comfortable.
of Anglo American Peru, revealed that construction was 50%
complete as of May 2021, and mining ore should start by the What message would you give about the importance of fostering a collabora-
end of the year. The mine is expected to be fully operational tive mining climate in the country?
in 2022. “Since I have been here, I have seen the tremendous Since I have been here I have seen the tremendous opportunities that Peru’s mi-
opportunities that Peru’s mining sector presents, and I think ning sector presents, and I think this should be emphasized more than it is. As an
this should be emphasized more than it is,” stated McCulley. industry we need to sit down with government and figure out how we are going to
“As an industry we need to sit down with government and fig- capture this opportunity to benefit the Peruvian people. If we are not careful and
ure out how we are going to capture this opportunity to ben- too many restrictions are introduced, future investment is going to dry up or go
efit the Peruvian people. If we are not careful, and too many somewhere else. All stakeholders should have a fair share, make a fair profit, and
restrictions are introduced, future investment is going to dry have access to development. I think we have done a good job of this at Quellaveco,
up or go somewhere else.” ■ and this is a good example of how we need to do things moving forward. ■
18 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 19
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
20 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 21
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
comply with their very high international April 2021, multinational EPCM Ausenco Renewable Energy Sources are currently evaluating the possibility of cost of the mining process is its environ- lustration of the situation faced by poor
standards.” released its first sustainability report. Al- using solar power for San Gabriel, which mental impact in Andean communities communities in Peru, using the example
Michael Scherb, founder and CEO of Appi- exandra Almenara, Ausenco’s VP environ- In April 2021, ENGIE Energía Perú, the has an ideal location to benefit from such that have not seen their fair share of the of the Chumbivilcas province, which has
an Capital Advisory LLP, weighed in on the ment and sustainability for South America, Peruvian arm of French multinational elec- an energy source,” revealed Roque Bena- wealth created by generations of mining. 83,000 inhabitants in a remote location
subject: “Today, ESG comes up in nearly outlined what the report hopes to achieve: tric utility company ENGIE, announced it vides, chairman of Buenaventura. Herein lies the challenge of obtaining and over 4,000 m above sea level. “In the re-
every interaction with investors. It used to “Its aim is to compile all our sustainabil- will build a wind farm to supply power to maintaining a license to operate. gion 29 out of 1,000 children do not cel-
be a buzzword, then it became a checklist, ity efforts in different projects and areas Anglo American’s Quellaveco mine, mak- Orlando Marchesi, country senior partner ebrate their first birthday due to the high
and now it has become a real thematic in of the company, and with this constitute ing it the first Peruvian mine to use 100% Sustainable Wealth Creation and Com- at PwC Peru, believes that many of the so- rate of infant mortality. On the environmen-
underwriting,” he said, explaining that it a baseline for our commitment to the fu- renewable energy. Rik De Buyserie, coun- munity Expectation cial challenges to mining in Peru are the tal side, 62% of the garbage and waste in
is an educational process, walking insti- ture,” she said, adding that once all the try manager of ENGIE in Peru and CEO of result of a decentralization process that the region is buried, burned or dumped
tutional investors (like pension plans and independent sustainability initiatives with- ENGIE Energía Perú, detailed that the 260 “The social side of ESG – poverty – is started in 2003. into water sources. In other words, the area
sovereign wealth funds) through the good in the company are understood, Ausenco megawatt (MW) Punta Lomitas wind farm often neglected,” stated Barrick's CEO While the country’s poverty incidence rate is in need of tremendous help.”
that mining does in the world. “This is can start working on more specific, unified will provide approximately 187 MW of Mark Bristow, citing a World Health Or- fell from 58 to 23 percent between 2004 Hudbay intends to bring in a multi-stake-
not just about decarbonization and com- and company-wide measures. green energy in a two-part project. ganization (WHO) report forecasting that and 2014, a large portion of the tax gener- holder approach that delivers investment
modities, which is everyone’s focus, but Gonzalo Covarrubias, general manager of “Firstly, we will convert the current PPAs 100 million people will move below the ated from mining has not been reinvested to Chumbivilcas from many sources, and
involves communities, jobs, health and WSP Peru, explained how the company’s (power purchase agreements) that we have breadline (US$1.90 per day) because of properly. He pointed to the lack of proj- signed a framework agreement in March
infrastructure investment in remote parts consulting services aim to create long- in place into green PPAs; and secondly, we Covid. “Companies that think simply tick- ect management capabilities of regional 2021, committing to invest 11 million
of countries which may not usually receive term relationships between project, com- have signed a green PPA for eight years ing boxes is enough to raise money are in governments, which have not been able Peruvian Soles (around US$3 million) per
benefits,” added Scherb, remarking that a munity and operation, suggesting that from 2029,” explained De Buyserie, noting for a rude awakening, as the pandemic has to invest the Canon Minero (50% income year in social and technical development
lot of sectors can learn from mining’s abili- the mining industry has not been great that ENGIE will also build a 60 km trans- highlighted that the world is not a platform tax generated from Peruvian mining com- projects. However, Del Rio warned that the
ty to bring different stakeholders together at communicating its role in supplying mission line to connect the wind farm to for exploitation,” he added. panies) correctly. task requires support from more than just
as part of a final product. global demand for sustainable technolo- the national grid. The majority of regions where mining is “This has created conflicts between the the private sector: “Regardless of who wins
The International Council on Mining and gies. “We need to clearly communicate The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) prevalent remain poor, despite companies mining companies and local communi- the election, sustained investment and de-
Metals (ICMM) has set out a list of Mining why we mine metals – as they are vital for granted the concession on the Punta Lo- and their shareholders making huge prof- ties,” he said, noting that unspent funds velopment is needed in the Chumbivilcas
Principles, created on the understand- development; and how we mine metals – mitas wind project for both generation and its. It is one of the reasons why anti-mining provided to regional governments (be- province, and this cannot be achieved by
ing that the decarbonizing of the global by having a responsible mining and strong transmission, and ENGIE expects to start sentiment exists, and one of the reasons tween 30% to 40% of the total paid) are one company alone.”
economy and meeting the UN Sustainable relationships within the communities that plant construction in the second half of politicians like Pedro Castillo rise to power. returned to the Ministry of Economy and The hope for Peru, its mining industry and
Development Goals (SDGs) requires a sus- we operate.” 2021. De Buyserie elaborated on the en- After it has been mined, copper does a Finance. Stating that both the regional and local communities is that the experience of
tained demand for metals and minerals Covarrubias emphasized the need to vironmental benefits of the project, stating number of good things, but its extraction local governments have done a poor job mislaid promises and legacy issues is part
over the coming decades. communicate with local communities, that the Punta Lomitas wind project will re- presents the moral issue of global benefit of bringing prosperity to their communi- of a learning curve that leads to clearer
“The mining sector is the backbone of the governments, clients and employees in duce CO2 emissions by 230,000 mt/y. vs local cost. One of the most tangible ties, Marchesi reflected: “If we had more communication from the early stages of a
transition to a net zero emissions econo- unison rather than in silos, accentuating He also underlined that ENGIE is building ways to eradicate poverty is through the efficient governments, we would have project. Castillo’s Perú Libre government
my,” stated Rohitesh Dhawan, new ICMM the importance of long-term planning that the wind farm without any subsidies from construction of wells and pipes to supply been able to build better infrastructure, has been elected with a mandate to dis-
CEO, who brings a wealth of sustainabili- considers climate change, wealth-creation the government, adding: “It is great news water to third world communities, giving health services and educational services tribute wealth more evenly, but to achieve
ty-focused experience to the role. Dhawan for communities and how technologies for future development if you can be envi- single mothers the chance to care for their over the last 20 years.” this, collaboration rather than demoniza-
cited the World Bank estimate that there will evolve. ronmentally-friendly but also competitive children or work rather than walk miles to Javier Del Río, VP business unit South tion is a must for a country that relies on its
will be a 500% growth in the demand for American multinational conglomerate 3M from a cost perspective.” collect water each day. However, the local America for Hudbay Minerals, gave an il- mining industry. ■
critical minerals required for this transition. is involved in the full lifecycle of mining Tom McCulley, CEO of Anglo American
To underline the importance of the mining projects, providing consumables such as Peru, related that the deal with ENGIE
sector, he gave the example that if the UK PPE and electrical solutions for connectiv- was put together in the span of less than
alone was to convert all its petrol and die- ity and energy. Luis Palenque, 3M’s presi- a year, with the two companies entering
sel cars to electric cars today, it would take dent and managing director for the Ande- discussions just before the Covid outbreak
up twice the annual global production of an Region, mentioned that the company in 2020. “This sends a message to the mi-
cobalt. “Therefore, mining will be a funda- invests more than 6% of its global income ning industry and to Peru that renewable
mental pillar of vehicle electrification, and into innovation, which represents over energy is feasible,” he said.
for the production of other important ele- US$2 billion per year, with sustainability Peru also has abundant solar energy sourc-
ments to reach carbon neutrality such as at the core of its R&D. “3M’s sustainabil- es, particularly in the south of the country,
solar panels or wind turbines.” ity strategy includes new objectives, such a source of power that has dramatically re-
Dhawan went on to emphasize that the as achieving 30% less carbon emissions duced in cost in the past decade. A report
way minerals are produced is also im- within the next 10 years, 30% less water from the International Renewable Power
portant. In the past, mineral production consumption by 2030, and zero-carbon Agency (IRENA) presented data showing
contributed 4-7% of global greenhouse footprint by 2050. To help achieve this, the global weighted-average LCOE (lev-
emissions. the company has already invested US$1 elized cost of electricity) of utility-scale
Achieving tangible change will require billion towards reaching its sustainabil- solar PV is set to fall to US$ 0.039/kWh in
the buy in of the full mining supply chain, ity goals,” detailed Palenque, noting that 2021, lower than any fossil fuel-generated
including the engineering firms and con- even as a customer, 3M selects suppliers source. In addition to their environmental
sultancies that design projects and advise and companies based upon how sustain- benefits, renewables are now becoming
on environmental and social strategy. In able they are. an economically sound alternative. “We
22 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 23
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Rik Rohitesh What role can the mining industry play in the transition to a net zero emissions
economy?
Mining will be a fundamental pillar of vehicle electrification and for the production of oth-
De Buyserie Dhawan er important elements to reach carbon neutrality such as solar panels or wind turbines.
The way these minerals are produced is also important. We cannot afford to have exces-
sive carbon emissions from mineral production.
Mining will continue to require
CEO The ICMM is working on both sides of the equation: we are studying how the industry
significant amounts of energy, can supply the metals and minerals required for the low carbon transition and analyz-
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MINING
but if this can be supplied ing how to do this generating the fewest possible greenhouse emissions. Several mi-
& METALS (ICMM)
through greener sources, the ning companies have successfully transitioned to 100% renewable energy, such as Anglo
CEO industry will be able to change
American in several parts of their operations. The Escondida mine is also well on track to
ENGIE ENERGÍA PERÚ achieve 100% renewable energy.
the perception some people
have of it. What are the ICMM’s current priorities?
The main priority is to continue enabling the global industry to take up the Global In-
dustry Standard on Tailings Management. Towards that end, we recently launched the
Tailings Management Good Practice Guide as well as the Conformance Protocols for the
Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. Our ambitious goal is to find solu-
tions that will significantly reduce or eliminate tailings in the first place.
There are two other areas we are currently working on: our skills initiative, which is a 15-
year plan to equip communities with the skills they need to thrive, no matter what mining
ENGIE Energía Perú recently announced it will build a will reduce CO2 emissions by 850,000 mt/y. The Punta Lomi- looks like in the future, and the Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles (ICSV), designed to
wind farm to supply power to Quellaveco, making it the tas wind project will avoid CO2 emissions by 230,000 mt/y. reduce greenhouse gas emissions from mobile equipment on the mine site and reduce
first Peruvian mine to use 100% renewable energy. Can To summarize, in a very short period of time, we are eliminat- fatalities and injuries caused by mobile equipment. This year, we will also work in areas
you provide details of this agreement? ing approximately 2 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, related to climate change and biodiversity. ■
The agreement between ENGIE and Anglo American will while at the same time avoiding 300,000 mt/y of CO2 emis-
mean that the entire energy supply of the Quellaveco proj- sions through generating energy from renewable sources.
ect, which is approximately 187 MW, will be 100% green As well as being environmentally friendly, there is also a posi-
energy. This power project will make Quellaveco the first tive financial impact. The south of Peru and north of Chile
mine in Peru which secures 100% of its electricity needs have abundant solar resources, but Peru also has a couple of
through renewable sources from the beginning of the mine
operation.
In order to be able to produce the green energy that the
wind sites which are world class.
24 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 25
MINING
PRODUCTION
“To optimize your production, it is important to know in real time
the specific characteristics of the ore that is going through
your processing plant, so the operator can provide the best
metallurgical response possible”
28 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 29
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
30 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 31
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Gonzalo
Mina Justa has a planned
Quijandría production life of 16 years,
and over this time it should
What progress has been made with the planned expansion at Condestable?
contribute around US$1
The process of certifying the reserves and resources got delayed in 2020, as we
billion if you put together were relying on a Canadian firm and they were not able to visit due to the travel
Corporate Affairs and income tax, royalties and the ban. In Q4 2020 we restarted process with local engineering firm, BISA, and by
Sustainability Director 8% profit distribution among April 2021 the basis of studies for the expansion will be ready.
MINSUR The staged expansion at Condestable will initially increase production from 7,000
workers.
tonnes per day (mt/d) to 8,400 mt/d, and construction for this stage should be
finished in Q3 2021, which will result in a 20% increase in copper production from
the mine. The next stage after this will be to increase production to 12,000 mt/d
Adolfo after we have prepared a new EIA and obtained the necessary permits.
What is the current status of Ariana, and can you elaborate on the com-
What is the status of the commercial production start at
Mina Justa?
initiatives such as public-private partnerships. With current
metal prices, tax revenues will increase, but the authorities
Vera pany’s plan to increase investment in the project by US$15 million to around
US$140 million?
Ariana is subject to a judiciary process right now, which we hope will be resolved
We are completing the commissioning phase with some need to manage these resources efficiently to execute pub-
production of concentrates and cathodes, with commercial lic works. in 2021. There was an additional hearing in August 2020, but the judge has not
production scheduled for the end of June 2021. We have make a decision yet, so we have decided to keep the project suspended for the
two plants to process oxides and sulphides. In the case of What are the company’s investment plans for the San time being. Ariana is a project that SPM will definitely build, as I have always
oxides, we are using a new production process for Peru, Rafael mine considering the strong outlook for tin? maintained, because there is no technical support for any of the claims of those
which is VAT leaching. Another innovative aspect is that, tak- Minsur’s San Rafael mine continues to be the largest single President & CEO who oppose the project. The increase in investment we are considering relates
ing advantage of our proximity to the sea, we are using un- tin producer in the western hemisphere. The main develop- SOUTHERN PEAKS MINING (SPM) to a number of upgrades including a dry tailings deposit. By the end of this year
treated seawater for the leaching process. In the case of sul- ment there has been the B2 project for tailings re-process- we will hopefully be able to restart construction, with production to start by the
phides, we have a conventional sulphide concentrator plant. ing that started production late 2019. The tin grade we had end of 2022. Ariana will be a very low cash cost producer in the neighborhood of
in our tailings was higher than the grade found in any other US$0.50/lb, and will increase production by 15,000 mt/y fine copper equivalent,
How is sea water being used at Mina Justa? new project in the world, and on top of the economics, this about 35,000 mt/y of copper concentrate.
We have a sea water extraction point at our port and a pipe- helped us implement a circular economy project. Before B2,
line that runs in parallel to our sulfuric acid line. Just a tiny we had also implemented an ore sorting technology, which Would SPM consider acquiring another project to add to its portfolio?
portion of the water is desalinated for conventional camp helped us improve production. Now, we continue explora- The current high copper price, led by the astonishing Chinese recovery from the
water use. Water is pumped 41 km from the Pacific Ocean tion in some adjacent areas to San Rafael. pandemic that does not seem to be slowing down, gives us a much more robust
to our operation. case for expansion. This will bring about cheaper capital for brownfield copper
Once Mina Justa is fully optimized, what will it mean fi- projects, and has also stimulated M&A interest. We are looking at properties in
Can you elaborate on your initiatives to promote sus- nancially for the region of Ica and its communities? Peru and Chile, and to a lesser extent Ecuador and Argentina, and we are waiting
tainability in the mining value chain? Mina Justa has a planned production life of 16 years, and for the opportunity to add another asset to SPM’s portfolio. However, right now
As members of ICMM, we are evaluating a number of initia- over this time it should contribute around US$1 billion if you we are focusing more on operating assets rather than exploration or M&A, as is it
tives to reduce our carbon footprint as well as our consump- put together income tax, royalties and the 8% profit distri- the area we can add the most value in the short term.
tion of strategic resources such as water. This is what initially bution among workers. We believe this will be a meaningful
led us to design our process to use sea water. We are also contribution to the Peruvian economy. SPM participated in the TSX Latam Mining Investor Day in August 2020.
By 2022, I would like to see
looking at ways of using more sustainable and renewable Considering the company’s organic growth pipeline and current high copper
energy sources. Do you have a final message about the importance of
Ariana back in construction, price, is listing publicly on the cards?
Mina Justa to Peru? Condestable’s first expansion We are IPO ready. SPM prepared for an IPO in 2017 but the market turned and we
How do you think mining companies in Peru can improve Minsur is a mining company with a long trajectory. From fully completed, and the decided against listing, which was a good decision for us at that moment and in
their public image? being an important producer of tin and gold, we are now permitting process underway
hindsight. We have kept the discipline of being IPO ready, but I do not see it as
The industry has to be aware of its impacts. For instance, becoming a copper producer, and this is taking us to a dif- a priority in the short term for 2021, unless there is a particular bull run for small
Mina Justa is located between two natural reserves: San ferent level. As members of the ICMM, we follow the best
for the second stage of the cap copper producers and it becomes undeniably attractive. That being said,
Fernando and San Juan. So, Mina Justa shows that a mining industry standards and we are commited to reducing our expansion. listing publicly is certainly on the cards further down the line for SPM, in the not
project can operate with total respect for the natural and impact and our carbon footprint. Latin America is experienc- so distant future.
cultural richness around it. Our footprint is totally controlled ing moments of change and a certain degree of political un-
and there is no impact on the natural reserves, and indeed certainty, but our vision has always been for the long term, Where would you like to see SPM by the beginning of 2022?
we collaborate with these reserves to promote tourism in and in this particular case, the current copper price shows I would like to see Ariana back in construction, Condestable’s first expansion fully
the area. We also want to help public authorities to better that our planning was right. Also, we are inspired by being completed, and the permitting process underway for the second stage of the
manage the financial resources that they get from the Mi- able to contribute to a better world, as copper is a key metal expansion. In an ideal world, I would also like at least one more asset in the SPM
ning Canon (50% of the income tax paid annually) through in new technologies and renewable energies. ■ portfolio. ■
32 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 33
FA C T S H E E T Global Business Reports
Million mt
2.2
2.15 2018 6,525 2.96
2.0
Variation
1.8
2019-20 (%) 2019 6,005 2.72
-12.5%
1.6
2020 6,174 3.18
1.4
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 *Until August 2021
Luis Roque
Rivera It is especially important to
re-start workshops that had
Benavides Anything that can be decided
by politics in Peru will
require an evaluation of our
to stop due to the pandemic,
competitiveness, comparing
where mining companies,
things such as taxation and
Executive Vice President government authorities, NGOs Chairman
permitting procedures to
AMERICAS, GOLD FIELDS and civil society came together BUENAVENTURA
leading mining jurisdictions
to define the vision of mining in
such as Canada, Australia
Peru for 2030.
and Chile.
Can you give us an overview of Gold Fields’ activities in a present-day mine of the future. It is constructed in an ex-
Peru in 2020? tremely isolated place in a high deserted region in Atacama What are your thoughts on the current political situation do not help in this respect. However, we have to be critical
Gold Fields saw the challenge of adapting to the new rea- at 4,600 m above sea level. From a technological point of in Peru? of ourselves before criticizing others, and as an industry I be-
lity of social distancing, PPEs, different protocols and reg- view, this is particularly challenging, as it is far from the elec- Politicians in Peru are similar to politicians all over the world. lieve we can do better.
ulations. Even though operations slowed down in March trical grid. To solve this problem, the electricity requirement They promise a number of things, but do not realize that
2020, we managed to resume our activity under these new for the project will be met through a diesel plant, and for there are checks and balances in place. In the case of Peru, How could Peru stimulate exploration and reverse the
conditions, learning that it is possible to operate safely dur- the first time, we will install a solar farm, which will initially this means the confirmation of Congress. The Peruvian sys- downward trend in gold production?
ing Covid. Our priorities last year included securing metal cover 5% of our electricity demand and will reach 20% of our tem requires dialogue to reach consensus. A candidate can In Peru, exploration requires as many permits as putting a
production, securing stripping activity and, to a lesser ex- demand in the future. say what he/she wants to do, but turning this into legislation mine into operation, which is absurd - it can take six to eight
tent, securing the cost, as well as looking at other activities Many of our activities in the pit, in the stockpiles and in the is another matter. There are some independent institutions months to get a permit to drill. By comparison, in Mexico it
such as exploration in brownfield areas. The recovery has plant, will be controlled through a remote operational con- in Peru which really work, and one of them is the Peruvian take only three weeks. Mining companies have a responsibil-
been strong, and we have managed to re-establish the same trol center in Santiago. We have already finished 100% of the Central Bank (BCRP), which acts as the economic advisor of ity to convince our authorities that exploration is research – it
production rate we had in the past. In December 2020, we detail engineering, 25% of the project is already advanced, the Peruvian economy. does not have a major impact on nature and it gives you a
reached a similar production level to that of December 2019. and the first metal is expected to come into production in Anything that can be decided by politics in Peru will require lot of information. What we are mining in Peru today are all
Q1 2023. an evaluation of our competitiveness, comparing things such deposits which have outcrops on surface. We have not dis-
Which operational modifications and optimization work as taxation and permitting procedures to leading mining ju- covered a hidden, deep deposit, but worldwide there have
has been done at Cerro Corona? How has Gold Fields been helping local communities risdictions such as Canada, Australia and Chile – countries been a number of world-class discoveries at depth. Peru still
During 2020 we reduced stripping activities. The stripping through the pandemic? that have been more successful than us in attracting invest- has a lot to discover.
waste will be recovered in 2021. We also plan to change the Gold Fields is currently implementing a large oxygen plant in ment. I hope that common sense prevails, and as the private
grinding circuit and our 12-year-old crusher. In addition, we the Bambamarca Hospital in Peru. We have also carried out sector we are actively working with politicians to convince What is the current status of the San Gabriel project, and
are implementing a gravimetric circuit to recover additional several campaigns to promote the donation of oxygen, rap- them that this is the way forward. when could this be moved into production?
coarse gold that was going to waste in the tailings dam. With id testing, and food delivery, and we have worked together San Gabriel is currently at the end of its permitting process.
these modifications we will have the appropriate conditions with the government to encourage social distancing and the To what do you attribute the negative sentiment towards We started the prior consultation process two years ago, we
to continue mining deeper and recover additional coarse use of masks. Gold Fields has also collaborated with educa- the mining industry in some regions? continue having meetings with local communities, and the
gold that was going to waste because it was too heavy to be tional authorities to raise consciousness about the impor- There are a number of reasons why there is negative senti- government keeps supporting its development as part of the
brought into the flotation circuit. tance handwashing and cleanness at home. In addition, we ment towards mining, one of which is expectation, and the economic reactivation after COVID-19. The authorities always
constructed two class room for the local school using local government plays a role in this. I will give the example of Las reference San Gabriel when speaking about active projects
Can you provide details of the scoping study to extend wood, to promote sustainable concepts in our kids. Bambas. When Mr. Vizcarra was Minister of Transportation, in Peru’s development pipeline. We are currently evaluating
the mine life at Cerro Corona to 2034? he went to negotiate with the Cotabambas community and the possibility of using solar power for San Gabriel, which has
We are using the mined-out pit as a tailings dam, which has Where would you like to see Peru’s mining industry by said that government was going to build a paved road, which an ideal location to benefit from such an energy source. The
been extremely useful to gain extra space. Because our the end of 2021? never happened. This has led to years of conflict, with the mi- mine should be in production by 2023.
land properties at Cerro Corona are small compared to the Hopefully, all activities will be resumed by the end of the ning company bearing the brunt of the blame.
space, we need this extra area to place waste and tailings. year. It is especially important to re-start workshops that had Peru is a very centralized country, and many rural community Do you have a final message for the Peurvian mining in-
to stop due to the pandemic, where mining companies, gov- leaders believe that mining is going to replace government in dustry, on the bicentennial anniversary of the country’s
Construction at the Salares Norte project in Chile start- ernment authorities, NGOs and civil society came together their regions, which is not realistic. The lack of management indepence?
ed in January 2021. How significant is this project to to define the vision of mining in Peru for 2030. These dia- skills at the three levels of government – national, regional I would say that Peru has a brilliant future. In these next three
Gold Fields and what is its timeline for development? logues were a useful initiative to establish a solid frame for and provincial – is terrible in Peru. The private sector needs years, the private and public sectors have to work together to
Salares Norte is an important landmark for Gold Fields, as it mining activity and to achieve a consensus between differ- more dialogue to present and convince local communities of take advantage of the opportunities in front of us. We have
is fully owned and funded by our company and represents ent actors. ■ the benefits mining can bring, and government authorities to give opinion and become more involved in civil society. ■
38 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 39
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations FA C T S H E E T
Bustamante
Million oz
ect that we have for Inmaculada is the to present to the market by the time we 7
ore sorting facility, which will allow us publish our mid-year report. For the Variation
6 2019-2020
to screen the material using a combina- second half of 2021, we have identified
-32%
tion of different technologies such as two promising targets – Minascucho 5
laser, color and x-rays. We are currently and San Francisco – which we intend to
4
in the process of finishing the engi- drill before year end.
neering and starting the procurement 3
President & CEO 3.08
for this plant, with the aim to be fully Why do you think anti-mining senti- 2
HOCHSCHILD MINING operational by Q1 2022. The plant will ment in Peru exists, and how can the
have a total capacity of 1,800 mt/d. This private sector change this? 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
technology will allow us to increase the News and communication regarding the
grade fed to the plant and improve the mining sector is often negative, since it
mechanization of our mining methods. is associated with illegal mining activi- Silver Production In Peru
It will also allow us to put value to other ties, and people tend to link the image Sources: MINEM / GBR
Million oz
areas of the mine that were not profit- of mining to all this terrible news. As a
150
able before. sector, we need to communicate bet- Variation
ter and educate the population about 140 2019-2020
-22.5%
Where has Hochschild’s recent the positive impact the industry has for
130
brownfield exploration work been the country and its communities. I be-
focused? lieve that the pandemic has highlighted 120
In 2020, we managed to attain addi- many things the mining sector has done 105.49
110
tional resources at both Inmaculada and to support the economy, but there is
San José, and we are very excited about still room for improvement. ■ 100
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Poderosa’s drop in gold production pany in Peru, according to MINEM Gold Average Price (USD/oz)
2,200
Sources: Kitco / GBR
1,800
it was a challenging year. Poderosa has ery year we have to make investments
1,600
a rotation system, where workers spend to replenish the mineral resources that $1,794.15
28 days in the mine and 14 days off. we process. This investment represents 1,400
This system was stopped for about four around US$60 million per year, but in 1,200
months, as workers had to be isolated 2020 we invested US$32 million. De-
General Manager
in the mine to avoid contagion, which spite this, Poderosa has been the com-
Nov 2018 Jan 2019 Aug 2019 Dec 2019 Apr 2020 Aug 2020 Dec 2020 Apr 2021 Aug 2021
MINERA PODEROSA affected our projections, especially in pany with the highest investment in
terms of exploration. We normally do exploration in Peru, with grades of 18
54,000m of drilling each year, but in grams per ton (g t), demonstrating the
Silver Average Price (USD/oz)
2020 we only achieved 48% of this goal. profitability of the company. In terms of
Sources: Kitco / GBR
Also, whereas previously we had two greenfield and brownfield exploration, US$/oz
or three people in the same room, we we are also investing US$8-10 million 32
had to reduce this number to one per- a year to find new deposits. Poderosa
28
son. Our company has accelerated the is currently preparing environmental
construction of new camps with por- impact studies for the Las Defensas 24
table houses (“igloos”), to house work- brownfield project in La Libertad. Once 20 $23.90
ers and isolate infected people; These the case studies and procedures have
16
constructions are expected to be com- been completed, an investment of
pleted by the end of May 2021. US$68 million will be made to explore 12
40 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 41
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Zinc How did Nexa Resources’ perform in Peru in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021?
The zinc market witnessed The results from Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 were very positive. After lockdown, the
an oversupply of concentrate strict protocols required to operate in Peru resulted in an adaptation period where
before the pandemic hit, no underground mining operation was able to return to 100% capacity. However,
which was later consumed we managed to achieve our third best quarterly result ever in Q1 2021, in part
due to high metals prices, but also due to a process of restructuring the company
by the smelters in China has undergone since before the pandemic. This includes the introduction of new
THE BASE METAL KEY TO
during the outbreak as technology and revision of mining processes that have resulted in lower costs and
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IS
supply struggled, especially higher productivity.
ENJOYING A STELLAR 2021
in South America. At the
What is the status of the Magistral copper development project, and its
moment, there is a supply timeline for development?
deficit as expansion projects There is a lot of talk about a commodities supercycle, and the one commodity
were delayed and no new
mines were built. We expect
Ricardo that is indisputably linked to this cycle is copper, which forms the basis of infra-
structure development and will play a large role in the electrification transition.
Considering this macro outlook, Nexa has a lot of interest in increasing its par-
Zinc production in Peru decreased by
only 5.3% in 2020, totaling 1.33 mil-
this supply constraint to
last several years, which will Porto ticipation in the copper space, with Magistral being our most advanced project.
We finished the detailed engineering and design of the open-pit mine at the
lion metric tonnes (mt), thanks to the positively impact prices. end of Q1 2021. We are now in the final permitting phase, and hope to make a
country’s biggest producer increasing construction decision by the end of the year.
its zinc output by 34.3% (Antamina’s
491,180 mt/y Zn accounted for over - Ricus Grimbeek, What are your views on the current drivers of the zinc market?
one third of all zinc produced in Peru in President & CEO, I believe the fundamentals of the zinc market have never been this strong.
2020). The base metal used to galvanize Trevali Mining President & CEO The priced peaked in 2017 due to a temporary supply shortage, but this was
steel experienced a rollercoaster 2020, NEXA RESOURCES PERU not backed up by the level of demand we are seeing now. Normally demand is
dropping to a 5-year low of US$0.82/lb concentrated into certain regions at different times, but for the first time we are
in March, before rising over US$1.25/lb seeing large volumes being requested globally, including in Latin America. 70%
in December 2020. This upward trajec- of the demand for zinc comes from infrastructure, and governments around the
tory has continued in 2021, with zinc world have pledged to increase infrastructure spending in the wake of the pan-
passing the US$1.38/lb mark in June, demic, so the outlook remains robust for the rest of 2021.
buoyed by the prospect of government a revision of mining processes that have so the outlook remains robust for the
stimulus packages involving heavy in- resulted in lower costs and higher pro- rest of 2021.” What is Nexa’s strategy regarding the sustainable development of commu-
frastructure spending. ductivity at its Cerro Lindo, El Porvenir This sentiment was echoed by Ricus nities surrounding its operations?
Peru’s second biggest zinc producer, and Atacocha mines and Cajamarquilla Grimbeek, president and CEO of Trevali Regardless of where you operate, you need to establish the sustainable develop-
Nexa Resources, saw a 24.2% drop in smelter, explained Porto, who men- Mining, which operates the Santander ment of local communities, and this has to be done by training a base of local tal-
production in 2020, due to its opera- tioned that 70% of Nexa’s innovation is mine located 215 km northeast of Lima. ent which understands the culture. In some ways, Covid presented an opportunity
tions being underground mines, which incremental, focused on improving pro- “At the moment, there is a supply defi- to showcase what the mining industry can do for communities in terms of provid-
were slower to ramp up after lockdown cesses rather than replacing them. cit as expansion projects were delayed ing PPE, oxygen, food and health supplies at a critical time. However, the core of
than their open-pit counterparts due to On the subject of the zinc market, Porto and no new mines were built. We ex- We managed to achieve our Nexa’s strategy is forming partnerships with local stakeholders so they can work
government restrictions. stated he believes that the fundamen- pect this supply constraint to last se- third best quarterly result with us and become part of a project.
Ricardo Porto, president and CEO of tals have never been this strong. “The veral years, which will positively impact
ever in Q1 2021, in part due
Nexa Resources Perú, revealed that the price peaked in 2017 due to a tempo- prices,” reflected Grimbeek, noting that Can you elaborate on Nexa’s focus to promote workforce diversity and in-
company’s focus on innovation helped rary supply shortage, but this was not demand will likely remain solid as zinc is to high metals prices, but crease the participation of women in the mining industry?
Nexa weather the worst effects of the backed up by the level of demand we a raw material in solar panels and essen- also due to a process of Nexa is considerably above the industry average when it comes to workforce
pandemic, and Nexa’s aggressive ex- are seeing now,” he said, observing tial for galvanization and infrastructural restructuring the company diversity, but there is still a lot of progress to be made. As a company, it is hard to
pansion plans in Peru remain intact. that demand is usually concentrated developments, such as roads. communicate with society if you do not mirror society. Therefore we need more
The context has improved significantly into certain regions at different times, Expanding on Trevali’s plans in Peru, he
has undergone since before Peruvians, more workers from local communites, and certainly more women. Hav-
in 2021, with the company achieving its but for the first time Nexa is seeing added: “We are also conducting some the pandemic. ing a majority male workforce from a metropolitan area not only narrows your
third best quarterly result ever in the large volumes being requested glob- regional exploration as well as explora- viewpoint, but also narrows the talent pool you are hiring from.
first quarter of the year, in part due to ally, including in Latin America. tion below Santander to look for a pos- Nexa’s Empodera Group has highlighted issues that have resulted in a number
high metals prices, but also due to a Regarding zinc’s short-term outlook, sible extension of the current ore body. of organizational changes, including increasing maternity leave to six months in
process of restructuring the company Porto analyzed: “70% of the demand Therefore, the mine will be taken on an Peru, with flexibility to work the final two months part time. We are also running
has undergone since before the pan- for zinc comes from infrastructure, and exploration phase by the end of Q1 of training programs at Cerro Lindo and the Cajamarquilla smelter to train female
demic. governments around the world have 2022, and as a result, a study will be operators, and have readapted mine site infrastructure to create a more adequate
Nexa’s restructuring program includes pledged to increase infrastructure conducted to expand the tailings facil- working environment. For the mining sector to become more competitive, we
the introduction of new technology and spending in the wake of the pandemic, ity.” ■ have to attract more diverse talent. ■
42 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 43
MAP Global Business Reports Industry Explorations MAP
30
TACNA
44 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 45
JUNIOR
EXPLORATION
“Exploration is the essence of the mining industry. Mining
companies have a responsibility to convince our authorities that
exploration is research – it does not have a major impact on
nature, and it gives you a lot of information”
- Roque Benavides,
Chairman,
Buenaventura
The Junior Sector vorable market conditions saw three new junior IPOs in Peru
in Q4 2020, with Pucara Gold (TSXV: TORO) and Kuya Silver
(CSE: KUYA) going public in October, followed by Element 29
quent changes in government and ministerial positions, it
can be a serious challenge to contend with,” he said.
An illustration of how there is still plenty of room for im-
Guillaume
Reignites Resources (TSXV: ECU) in December. This trend has continue
in 2021, with Tier One Silver (TSXV: TLSV) listing in June, and
provement came from Enrique Garay, president of the
IIMP’s ProExplo 2021 event and SVP of geology for Rio2
Légaré
Forte Minerals, Sombrero Resources, Silver X and Mantaro Limited (TSXV: RIO). “The prior consultation process that
Silver all expected to list in the second half of the year. has been put into place means that permits for a declara-
Guillaume Légaré, head of South America at the Toronto tion of environmental impact take between 18-24 months
HIGH METALS PRICES MEAN DRILLS ARE TURNING Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange (TMX Group), and local communities end up being consulted twice. In
illustrated the uptick in junior activity globally when reveal- comparison, the permits in Chile take three months and in
AND NEW JUNIORS ARE LISTING
ing the annual results of the two exchanges. The number of Canada only two weeks.”
financings on the TSXV and TSX in 2020 increase by 30% in Miles Thompson, president and CEO of Lara Exploration
comparison to 2019, equating to C$2.9 billion equity capital (TSXV: LRA), which holds the Lara copper porphyry JV with
Although the downward trend in exploration expenditure in raised for companies that have mining projects in Latam. In Minsur and the Corina gold-silver JV with Hochschild, ob-
Peru continued in 2020, with a reduction of 37.5% compared Peru, home to the TMX Group’s South American HQ, Légaré served that Peru has a good mining code and a straight-
to 2019, this does not tell the full story. It was a tale of two praised the stability of the country’s mining sector and regu- forward process to register a claim, but to get anything
halves, as the crash in Q2 was followed by a dramatic rise in latory environment. done in the field is much harder. Comparing the Peruvian Head – South America
metals prices in Q3, led by precious metals, before base me- The improved sentiment for juniors was affirmed by Jorge situation to other jurisdictions where Lara also has projects, TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE AND TSX
tals took over. By 2021, copper’s relentless ascent and silver’s Granda, general manager of AK Drilling, who related that his Thompson gave the example of how in Brazil agreements VENTURE EXCHANGE
mainstream coverage had spawned a number of new compa- company’s client portfolio in February 2021 was made up of can be made directly with private landowners, whereas in
nies and a flurry of drill results. 60% juniors and 40% producers, compared to a 70/30 pro- Peru there is a need to deal with various local communities
Since stage two of Peru’s mining reactivation plan allowed ex- ducers/juniors split in February 2020. and authorities that don’t interact and are slow to make de-
ploration activities to restart in July 2020, gold hit an all-time Ivan Bebek, co-chair of Tier One Silver and president and cisions, and everything must go through Lima.
high of US$2,076/oz in August, silver approached the US$30/ CEO of Sombrero Resources, two new Peru-focused juniors Thompson summarized the challenges the Peruvian mining Can you provide an overview of the performance of TSX
oz mark for the first time in eight years, and copper reached spun out of Auryn Resources, has been working in Peru for sector is faced with: “The problem for Peru now is that the and TSXV in Latin America’s mining industry in 2020?
an all-time high in May 2021, trading over US4.75/lb. The fa- over a decade. “A year or two ago, I would have complained reforms necessary to improve its mining climate will be hard Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange
about the length of time it takes to obtain permits,” he said, to implement due to a distrust in the political class in the (TSXV) had great momentum in the mining sector in 2020.
before observing the shift that has taken place since Covid, country, a divided congress and local communities who Latin America is a very important mining market for us, and
with actions backing up the rhetoric of authorities who have have often not seen the benefits of the taxes and royalties currently represents 36% of all mining issuers on TSX and
vowed to streamline permitting. paid by mining companies.” TSXV. As of December 31st, 2020, there were 410 companies
“One of the most important adjustments the ministry made Speaking shortly before the second round of the general mining in Latam listed on TSX and TSXV, with 1,061 mining
was allowing companies to trench without needing a drill per- election, Steve Zuker, president and CEO of Pucara Gold properties. In 2020, C$2.9 billion of equity capital was raised
mit to support early-stage exploration,” continued Bebek, re- (TSXV: TORO), revealed that Pucara has had discussions with companies that have mining projects in Latam.
vealing that Tier One Silver obtained the FTA permit for its with and received many calls from investors concerned
flagship Curibaya project in a period of five months, on De- about the current situation. “It is hard to get people’s atten- What are the main themes you see impacting Peru’s and
cember 28th, while the country was undergoing an impeach- tion when there are already so many options for investors Latam’s mining sector in 2021?
ment process and dealing with Covid. and when you then have headline risks, the cost of capital In Peru, specifically, mining is the engine of its economic
increases significantly,” he reflected, adding that only those growth. The country has made great efforts to welcome for-
with a greater risk appetite seem to be interested. eign investments through an open and stable mining regula-
Cumbersome bureaucracy must be addressed Now, as Pedro Castillo prepares to assemble his new gov- tory environment, strong fundamentals and stable macro-
ernment, how could the new regime impact the junior sec- economic indicators. Issuers and investors are well aware
Although the good will of some of the Peruvian authorities, tor in Peru? On one hand, early-stage exploration does not of this positive investment landscape in Peru, where invest-
such Jaime Gálvez, to speed up the permitting process has create an iota of the environmental impact of a mining op- ments will be a critical part of Peru’s success in the future.
not gone unnoticed in recent years, it is hard to achieve mean- eration, so those with permits in hand should be able to add There are currently 62 TSX and TSXV-listed mining compa-
ingful progress in a context of constant political change. Re- value through the drill bit. Furthermore, the price action in nies operating in Peru, with 137 mining properties, and we
gardless of the intentions of Peru’s mining ministers, there juniors with Peruvian projects since the first round of the play an active role developing the country’s mineral wealth.
has been little time to implement policy in a country where election in April meant that they were already trading at a Beyond 2021, investors can rely on two essential factors for
the presidency has changed hands five times in less than discount by the time Castillo was confirmed as president. the mining sector in Latin America: qualified human capital
three years. Peru needs a sustained period of stability to at- From an investment standpoint, undervalued assets during and close attention to ESG factors.
tract investment dollars that have migrated to jurisdictions a metals upcycle are attractive and hard to find.
perceived as safer, such as Canada and Australia. However, one should not be dismissive of the threat that Can you elaborate on the opportunities for Latam mi-
Paul Murphy, manager of Mining Plus’s South American of- a candidate who rose to power on the back of anti-mining ning companies to move into a low carbon future?
fice, commented that he had spoken to a number of people rhetoric poses. For the investment community to embrace Peru, with its impressive mineral potential, has the possibility
working in the junior space who have mentioned the chal- a country that had lost competitiveness even under mod- of playing a key role in the low carbon future. For this, it is
lenges and uncertainty with regard to the timing of permits erate governments, the political turbulence that has char- imperative that we see more management teams from Peru
and lack of continuity of the leadership within the MINEM. acterized the country must now settle. Exploration is the and Latin America positioning their companies for future
“These people spend a lot of time developing relationships lifeblood of mining, and Peru is a mining country. The hope growth. TSX and TSXV have the markets that are necessary
and trust with local communities, and when there are fre- is that this will not be lost on the incoming authorities. ■ to raise the capital to finance this growth. ■
48 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 49
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Can you elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the creation of Sombrero Can you tell us about the milestones achieved by Chakana Copper in 2020, in-
Resources? cluding the three new discoveries made at Soledad since drilling recommenced
Sombrero Resources was spun out of Auryn Resources in October 2020 and holds in August?
the Sombrero copper-gold project in southern Peru. We had raised and spent over During the Covid lockdown in Peru, we were able to get the permit approved to drill
C$100 million in Auryn looking for world-class precious and base metal discoveries in the central part of the project area, where we had previously only done surface
and we identified several significant projects in both Canada and Peru, including work. This was a critical milestone, as we were well funded from the Gold Fields
Sombrero, which at the time was considered the flagship of Auryn. To allow each transaction and started drilling some very attractive targets.
project to get the attention and valuation it deserves, we then split Auryn into three, We started at Paloma East, a fairly small outcropping breccia pipe which gets con-
by commodity focus; Fury Gold Mines, Tier One Silver and Sombrero Resources. We siderably bigger at depth. We then moved 150 m to the west and tested another
believe Sombrero Resources is a world-class copper/gold opportunity and anticipate breccia pipe, Paloma West, with a slightly bigger footprint at surface and very high
listing in the second half of 2021. grades. Finally, we moved over to the Huancarama Breccia Complex, which is one of
the targets we were most excited about.
What is the history of the Sombrero project, and what attracted you to it?
Many major mining companies have reviewed the Sombrero project as it sits on the What has been your approach to drilling the new targets at Soledad?
Ivan western half of the Andahuaylas-Yauri belt, where world famous mines such as Las
Bambas, Tintaya, Antacapay and many others are present; however, it was missed.
Sombrero was primarily overlooked because of a thin blanket of volcanic rocks that David
We have always had the belief that these breccias are like fingers on a hand, which as
your go deeper coalesce into one larger Breccia body. Our scout drilling is ongoing,
but we have already confirmed that on the eastern half of the Huancarama Breccia
Bebek sits on the surface. This layer of rock was identified in a government survey as Mio-
cene age, which is not the prospective Eocene aged mineralization that hosts all
the world-class mines about 200 km to the west of Sombrero. However, a geologist, Kelley
Complex, two of the breccias do coalesce at depth, forming a larger breccia body
with dimensions of about 100 m by 60 m in a horizontal extent. This target at Huan-
carama has mineralization open at depth, which we have drilled from surface down
Miguel Cardozo saw the potential through small erosional windows of outcrop that to about 225 m.
had limited rock sampling and returned high-grade copper and gold. He introduced
us to the project and we were able to confirm that the age of the mineralization What have exploration results so far told you about the type of mine Soledad
below the volcanic cover is in fact Eocene and we strongly believe the Andahuaylas- could become?
Co-Founder, President & CEO Yauri belt extends over 200 km west to where the Sombrero project is located. We The vision for Soledad has always been a number of high-grade mineralized brec-
SOMBRERO RESOURCES have now taken over 5,000 samples, completed geophysics and some channel sam- President & CEO cia pipes, vertically extensive and very close together, containing copper, gold and
pling, which returned up to 184 m of 0.57% CuEq. We also acquired some historical CHAKANA COPPER silver, with the ability to mine several of these pipes at the same time. The fact that
drilling data completed by an international steel company that was pursuing the these breccia pipes sit in a hillside with about 500 m of relief is a perfect setting to be
claims for iron at the time, and their holes returned 0.58% copper equivalent over able to get into the mineralized areas by simple development of horizontal tunnels
116 m near surface. to access working faces.
The scale of the mineralization we are seeing at the Paloma area, and the proximity of
What exploration plans do you have at the Ccascabamba and Nioc targets in the breccia pipes, as well as Huancarama’s footprint, means that we can start consid-
2021? ering the potential for small-scale open-pit mining. This would lend itself to a staged
We have received a DIA permit on our Ccascabamba target, which allows us to drill capex approach before moving underground. This creates additional optionality,
from an environmental perspective, and we are now working toward our social per- which is what mining engineers have always loved about this project. You can put dif-
mits. Once fully permitted, our first drill program will include up to 38 drill pads to ferent breccia pipes into production, or multiple zones within a pipe into production.
start testing the 12 km strike length of targets that we’ve identified through surface
work and geophysics. We are looking to obtain access and permits so that we can In January 2021, Chakana announced a C$10 million private placement with
do the same at the Nioc target this year. Gold Fields increasing its ownership interest. Can you elaborate on this transac-
tion?
Sombrero Resources is in Which communities are in the vicinity of the north-western extension of the An- When we announced the financing, we still had C$3.3 million in the treasury, which
dahuaylas-Yauri belt, and to what extent are mining and exploration accepted was enough to fund our current drilling campaign and get to a first resource. How-
the process of applying for a
in the region? The goal is to publish a maiden ever, we recognized that these new discoveries will require substantial infill drilling,
listing on the TSX exchange The two communities of significance are Huancasancos and Lucanamarca, with
resource for Soleded in Q3 and we want to stay aggressive on the exploration side. Gold Fields has been a great
and is working toward meeting whom we have spent considerable time getting to know and supporting through ex- partner from the beginning. They were keen to see us ramp up and accelerate the
tensive community efforts, including federally recognized Agroideas programs that 2021. Once the resource is out,
final conditions prior to an program, and were keen on increasing their equity position from 16.8% to 19.99%.
we have introduced and sponsored. Although it has taken time, we are very pleased we will decide whether we do We see this as validation for the project, the team that we have, and the work that
anticipated listing in the with the rapport we have been able to establish prior to and during COVID. We have a PEA or stay aggressive with we are doing.
second half of 2021. taken the longer route to establish deep ties with the community so we can be more
drilling to expand the resource.
aligned with stakeholders on a long-term, sustainable basis. Which areas are you targeting for the 2021 exploration campaign, and when can
we expect a maiden resource?
What is the financial position of the company, and when do you intend to list For 2021, we have 26,000 m of drilling planned, consisting of 16,000 m of resource/
publicly? infill at the new discoveries, with an additional 10,000 m of new target testing. The
As of today, the company has over US$6 million in its treasury and does not require goal is to publish a maiden resource for Soleded in Q3 2021.
funds. However, we will look to finance prior to listing to fund future drill programs. Once the resource is out, we will decide whether we do a PEA or stay aggressive
The company is in the process of applying for a listing on the TSX exchange and is with drilling to expand the resource. We will also be doing metallurgical and engi-
working toward meeting final conditions prior to an anticipated listing in the second neering studies, as well as expanding our permit to access more targets and explore
half of 2021. ■ underground. ■
50 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 51
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations
40
2019 2020 INCREASE
THE JUNIORS LOOKING TO REPLENISH 35
PERU’S COPPER PIPELINE
30
25 26
32
30
31
32 37
24 48 100%
21 28 28
28
A lack of major development projects on the horizon after 25
20
Quellaveco comes into production in 2022 has sharpened 17 21 21
20 21
the spotlight on copper-focused juniors. If Peru is serious 13 14 14 15
13 Capital Raised (C$ million)
about making inroads into Chile’s lead as the world’s number
one copper producer, the country will require more than just 10
brownfield expansions, but significant greenfield discoveries 2019 2020 INCREASE
moving rapidly through the exploration and development
lifecycle.
Chakana Copper (TSXV: PERU) is currently advancing its
Soledad project near Aija, in the Ancash region of the Mio-
cene mineral belt, and achieved a critical milestone during
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
48 159 329%
the Covid lockdown in 2020 when it was awarded a permit to commenced in August, the company was able to make three The new kid on the block in Peru’s copper community is Ele-
drill in the central part of the project area. When drilling re- new discoveries; at Paloma East, a small outcropping breccia ment 29 Resources (TSXV: ECU), but the company brings with
pipe which gets bigger at depth; Paloma West, a high-grade it a wealth of experience, including president and CEO Brian
breccia with a bigger footprint at surface; and Huancarama, Booth, previous CEO of Pembrook Copper Corp. E29 was spun
a larger breccia complex with five principal pipes cropping out of project generator GlobeTrotter Resources, taking two
out at surface. new assets to the market, the Elisa and Flor de Cobre projects,
David Kelley, Chakana’s president and CEO, explained that and putting them into a new shell before competing its IPO in
these breccias are like fingers on a hand, which, as your go December 2020.
deeper, coalesce into one larger Breccia body, and the on- Flor de Cobre is a copper porphyry located near Arequipa,
going scout drilling performed has confirmed that two of close to Chapi and Cerro Verde, which until recently had been
the breccias do coalesce at depth on the eastern half of the privately owned. The historic Candelaria resource on the proj-
complex. ect was drilled in the 1990s by Phelps Dodge, but not devel-
Elaborating on the type of mine he envisages at Soledad, oped at the time because it needed to be 1% or better to be
Kelley commented that the scale of the mineralization at the feasible as a leach project, according to Booth, who noted: “In
Paloma area and the proximity of the breccia pipes, as well as today’s world, a 57 million ton resource at 0.67% copper, all
Huancarama’s footprint, means that Chakana can start con- above 200 meters (m) from surface, is very attractive.”
sidering the potential for small-scale open-pit mining, which E29’s other project, Elida, a large property of just under 20,000
would lend itself to a staged capex approach before moving hectares located 170 km northwest of Lima, was drilled by Lun-
underground. He added: “This creates additional optionality, din Mining in 2015. Booth commented on what attracted his
which is what mining engineers have always loved about this team to the project: “When you initially drill porphyries and
project. You can put different breccia pipes into production, want to see their significance, you need to see scale. Lundin
or multiple zones within a pipe into production.” drilled numerous holes that are 500 m to 600 m intersections at
In January 2021, Chakana announced a C$10 million private good grade copper molybdenum silver, which shows that there
placement with Gold Fields increasing its ownership inter- is potential for significant volume.”
est to 19.99%. In February, the South African gold producer Having raised C$6.7 million to further exploration and develop-
transacted with another copper-focused junior, Regulus Re- ment in 2021, Booth outlined the company’s plans for the year,
sources (TSXV: REG), with Regulus signing an option agree- which include releasing a maiden resource at Elida, a new 43-
ment to further consolidate the land position around its An- 101 report to modernize the historic resource at Flor de Cobre,
taKori copper-gold project. and resource extension work around both. This will be followed
In a statement, CEO John Black pointed out that these claims by metallurgical work from the core at Flor de Cobre that will
allow Regulus to layback its current resource estimation pit go towards a PEA.
further than it could previously, which should add resources The macro theme of a future fueled by copper is also making
that are already classified but not within the current con- new management teams revisit old projects, as is the case for
straints of the estimated resource pit. Camino Corp. (TSXV: COR), whose president and CEO, Jay
Brian which was drilled in the 1990’s by Phelps Dodge. It was not developed at the
time because copper grades needed to be 1% or better to be feasible as a leach
project as the copper price was US$1/lb at that time. In today’s world, a 57 million
Booth tonne resource at 0.67% copper, all above 200 meters (m) from surface, is very at-
tractive. In 2021, we will be modernizing this historical resource through a drilling
campaign in and around the existing holes. We expect to get our drill permits in Can you elaborate on the recent investment agreement Plata Dorada is our third asset, but it is still early stage and
Q3 2021 with drills turning shortly thereafter. between Camino Corp and Denham Capital to acquire does not fall into the same category as Los Chapitos and
We have another target on the project called Atravezado, which has a similar sur- the Maria Cecilia Porphyry Complex in Peru? Maria Cecilia, however, we have recently expanded our land
face expression as Candelaria, but has yet to be drilled. This has the potential to We saw an opportunity with Denham Capital, a US$10 bi- position at Plata Dorada after seeing exceptional results in
add additional material for an SX-EW type plant. llion resource-focused investment fund, to acquire a porphy- our surface sampling program. Exploration success would
President & CEO ry district in Peru. It is an asset that Denham had invested lead to an envisioned mid-size high-grade operation at Plata
ELEMENT 29 RESOURCES Can you tell us about the Elida property and the potential you see in this US$28 million into and were looking for a group to take the Dorada.
asset? project forward through the next stage of exploration. We
Elida is a large property of just under 20,000 hectares, located 170 km northwest bought the project outright and own 100%, with Denham What did exploration results from Camino’s fall 2020
of Lima, that was drilled by Lundin Mining in 2014-15. There are five individual becoming our largest shareholder. Denham has the capa- drilling campaign at Los Chapitos reveal about the proj-
porphyry targets on Elida, which has 18 holes drilled on one of these five targets. bility to fund larger transactions and is interested in both ect, and what are the company’s drilling plans for 2021?
Lundin drilled numerous holes with 500 to 600 m long intersections returning building and acquiring, so we intend to collaborate on future Our 2020 drill campaign at Los Chapitos continued to make
good copper, molybdenum and silver grades. The copper equivalent (CuEq) projects. In return, Denham is investing in a management significant intercepts of near-surface copper oxidized miner-
grade is above 0.5%, which is attractive at today’s metal prices. We recently re- team that has a track record of successfully building compa- alization at the Adriana zone (64.5 m of 0.6% Cu including 12
ceived our drill permits and are currently executing the 4,000 meter diamond drill nies that have a large institutional following. m of 1.05% Cu) to add to potential new tonnage for a maiden
program. We expect to have drill results in Q3 2021 with the goal of publishing a resource. Secondly, we have identified areas of significant
maiden resource estimate early in 2022. Which of Camino’s three assets would you consider its alteration and copper mineralization at zones like Lourdes
flagship project? that extend over 1 km2 along our main mineralized Diva fault
A number of projects in Peru have been stalled due to community conflicts. Los Chapitos is currently our flagship property. At Los Chapi- structure. This alteration suggests a large amount of geo-
Where does E29 sit in this regard? tos, we have already conducted over 20,000 meters of drill- logical fluid flow that could potentially host a large deposit
E29’s projects are close to the coast and there are no communities living on ei- ing in a very specific area over the past four years, and our for discovery.
ther project. The Aco community is located near Elida, and we have a very good target for this year is to continue drilling along a strike of the We are permitted to drill the southern extension, extending
With the money we raised, we
relationship with them, which was started with Lundin. We renewed our com- 8 km Diva structure that controls copper mineralization. We approximately 4 km to the south of the Adriana zone. We are
can get to a maiden mineral munity agreement with them for five more years during the COVID lockdown and are in a unique position to drill towards a maiden resource also advancing permits to drill the same geology and Diva
resource at Elida, and a new intend to show the community that they will be involved in the project as a main since previous drilling campaigns have realized very good structure towards the north and expect the permits to be
43-101 to modernize the historic stakeholder. intercepts of copper such as DCH-034 with 95 m of 0.85% achieved by July 2021. Maria Cecilia is also expected to be
At Flor de Cobre, the Candelaria property is largely owned by the government Cu. We are targeting more near surface oxidized copper for permitted in mid-2021. We are fully funded for our explora-
resource at Flor de Cobre, as and a local company. The Atravezado target involves a community which we al- an envisioned low capital SXEW copper operation. However, tion and drilling strategy for 2021 that will start with 6,000
well as doing some resource ready have an agreement with to do the surface work and they have helped us we will also test for primary sulphide mineralization over our metres of drilling.
extension work around both with geophysical labor and camp work. 220 km2 land package.
projects. We planned our drilling campaigns towards more discov- Where will Camino focus its efforts for the rest of 2021,
Where will you be investing the money you have raised in 2021? ery drilling. For instance, Maria Cecilia is an acquisition that and what would you like to achieve by 2022?
With this money we can get to a maiden mineral resource at Elida, and a new 43- comes in a porphyry district with several porphyry centers. In May 2021 we closed an oversubscribed private placement
101 to modernize the historic resource at Flor de Cobre, as well as doing some Two porphyrys have been drilled with over 30,000 metres of for US$7.5 million, which will be used to support our explo-
resource extension work around both projects. Then we can start some metallur- drilling complete. Our interest is to drill the third porphyry ration activities. We have been fortunate to be able to con-
gical work from the core at Flor de Cobre, which will give us information towards center – Maria Cecilia, which we consider to be the heart of tinue advancing our projects throughout the pandemic and
a PEA to get leach recoveries from the project. E29 is currently undervalued com- the porphyry district. We will be conducting 100% of the dis- acquire a new property, and we are on target to start new
pared to its peer group with a lot of catalysts for growth in 2021. ■ covery drilling at this third porphyry, Maria Cecilia, in 2021. drilling campaigns in July 2021. ■
54 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 55
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Chmelauskas, was drawn to the com- New copper juniors to list in 2021 age, which is not the prospective Eocene Why has Forte Minerals Corp decided and which of Forte’s three projects you
pany’s Los Chapitos project because of aged mineralization that hosts the mines to rebrand from Forte Copper Corp would consider as its flagship?
previous drill results from 2017 that indi- Ivan Bebek has been a busy man. Auryn to the west of Sombrero. “However, ge- and go public in 2021? In 2017, Forte Minerals entered into an
cated the potential scale and grade for a Resources spun out three companies in ologist Miguel Cardozo saw the potential Forte Copper Corp was formed in 2016, option agreement with Candente Cop-
copper mine. Speaking of the company’s 2020, resulting in the Quebec-focused through small erosional windows of out- but Forte wanted to stay private while per to purchase 60% of the Don Grego-
flagship Los Chapitos project, Chmelaus- Fury Gold Mines (TSX: FURY) listing in Q4 crop that had limited rock sampling and amalgamating assets. This helped to rio project, with Forte as operators of the
kas noted that over 20,000 meters of drill- 2020, Tier One Silver (TSXV: TSLV) list- returned high-grade copper and gold.” preserve share capital and assemble a JV advancing the permitting, exploration
ing has already been conducted in a very ing in June 2021, and finally Sombrero After confirming that the age of the min- meaningful portfolio before going public drilling, social initiatives and resource de-
specific area over the past four years, and Resources, which intends to list in the eralization below the volcanic cover is in and drill testing. With the copper market velopment.
Camino’s target for 2021 is to continue second half of 2021. fact Eocene, the Sombrero team believes performing the way it has in 2021, and the Don Gregorio could potentially be the
drilling along the 8 km extension of the Sombrero will focus on copper and gold, the Andahuaylas-Yauri belt extends over positive fundamentals moving forward, flagship property, but it is not the one
Diva structure. “Subject to permitting, with Bebek as its president and CEO, who 200km west to where the project is lo- Forte feels it is a good time to go public. which is going to get drilled first due to
we will drill on other targets throughout clarified that the idea behind the spin cated. “We have now taken over 5,000 Forte initially focused on copper porphy- a longer permitting timeline. However, it
our 220 km2 land package,” he added. offs was to give each project the atten- samples, completed geophysics and ries, but as things evolved in Peru, Forte is more advanced than Esperanza and Pu-
On March 30th, 2021, Camino an- tion and valuation it deserves, separating some channel sampling, which returned was able to acquire some prospective carini, as gold and copper mineralization
nounced the company had entered into
an agreement with Denham Capital to
acquire the Maria Cecilia porphyry com-
them by commodity focus.
Considering the Sombrero project sits on
the western half of the Andahuaylas-Yauri
up to 184 m of 0.57% CuEq,” detailed
Bebek, adding that historical drilling data
completed by an international steel com-
Patrick ground in a gold district in Puno that had
been relatively underexplored. Today,
about 75% of the 23,000 hectares Forte
has been encountered on the subsurface
enabling Forte to focus on expanding and
defining a resource.
plex in Peru, adding a third project to
its portfolio. Chmelauskas pointed out
belt on the same trend as Las Bambas,
Tintaya and Antapaccay, why has it re-
pany that was pursuing the claims for iron
returned 0.58% CuEq over 116 m near
Elliott owns are epithermal, high-sulfidation
gold prospects. Therefore, we decided What is Forte Minerals’ timeline for list-
that Denham, a US$10 billion resource- mained undeveloped? surface. to rename the company Forte Minerals ing publicly?
focused investment fund, “has the capa- “Sombrero was primarily overlooked be- Forte Minerals Corp (formerly Forte Cop- Corp, to better reflect the assets and our Forte Minerals plans to list sometime
bility to fund larger transactions and is cause of a thin blanket of volcanic rocks per Corp) was formed in 2016, but decid- focus. in July 2021, on the CSE by way of IPO.
interested in both building and acquir- that sits on the surface,” said Bebek, ex- ed to stay private while amalgamating as- Forte plans to raise up to C$4 million to
ing, so we intend to collaborate on future plaining that this layer of rock was identi- sets. Patrick Elliot, Forte’s president and How did the GlobeTrotters Resource support exploration expenditures planned
projects.” fied in a government survey as Miocene CEO, explained that this was to help pre- President & CEO Group exploration model lead you to for 2021-22 on its Porphyry Copper and
serve share capital and assemble a mean- FORTE MINERALS CORP the Esperanza and Pucarini properties? Epithermal Gold projects in Peru. This will
ingful portfolio before going public and The GlobeTrotters exploration model in- generate sufficient working capital to un-
drill testing. Now the company intends to volves collecting government data, gen- dertake two drilling programs in 2021.
list on the CSE in July 2021, by way of IPO erating algorithms to identify geophysical Considering the time it takes to attain
with Haywood Securities Inc., and plans aster anomalies, and populating thou- permits in Peru, Forte Minerals’ approach
to raise up to C$4 million to support ex- sands of anomalies throughout the Andes. is to work on permitting all three of the
ploration expenditures planned for 2021- It works best in areas without vegetation projects at the same time from the get go.
22 on its porphyry copper and epithermal cover, helping to delineate argillic and Forte has initiated the permitting process
gold projects in Peru, revealed Elliot. sericitic alteration zones. on all three projects and expect to receive
Like Element 29 Resources, Forte Miner- Of the anomalies identified, Esperanza 2/3 by Q4 2021.
als’ Esperanza and Pucarini assets are the and Pucarini were two of the properties
fruits of a decade of generative work with that attracted us the most. Through gov- Do you have a final message about
GlobeTrotters Resource Group in Peru, ernment auctions, GlobeTrotters acquired what makes Forte Minerals an attrac-
where Elliot worked with Richard Osmond Esperanza in 2014 and Pucarini in 2018, tive proposition?
and Manuel Montoya, formerly of Teck and spun them out into Forte. Esperanza Moving rapidly along the line of opportu-
Resources. Forte’s third property, Don is a porphyry copper moly system located nity towards a value maxima is very attrac-
Gregorio, is a JV with Candente Copper, Considering the time it takes northwest of Zafranal, and is drill ready. tive to investors. Significant value growth
and Elliot hopes to have received permits Pucarini was previously a Teck property is generated when early stage explora-
for at least two of his projects by Q4.
to attain permits in Peru, Forte from 2011 to 2015, and therefore well- tion moves towards resource definition,
Describing the potential he sees in the as- Minerals’ approach is to work known to Manuel Montoya. It is a huge while zoning in on target development
sets, Elliot said: “Significant value growth on permitting all three of the land package, where Forte has staked and eliminating the early-stage grassroots
is generated when early stage explora- 12 targets over 16,000 hectares. Forte risk. All three of Forte’s properties offer
projects at the same time.
tion moves towards resource definition, completed a geochemical, geophysical this opportunity, with tremendous upside
while zoning in on target development and geological mapping work program at considering their geological potential.
and eliminating the early-stage grass- Pucarini in November 2020, and will drill Furthermore, these alteration systems are
roots risk. All three of Forte’s properties test the principal target in 2021 alongside large enough to be meaningful to move
offer this opportunity.” a regional surface exploration program on into a development phase if exploration
He also pointed out that the alteration the other anomalies to better define the success is achieved. Most importantly,
systems at Forte’s projects are large targets. Forte will not undergo heavy dilution off
enough to be meaningful to move into the bat, and will only raise what is suitable
a development phase if exploration suc- Forte also owns the Don Gregorio pro- to take the company to the next stage of
cess is achieved. ■ perty. Can you tell us about this asset, the valuation curve. ■
56 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 57
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
58 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 59
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Can you introduce Tier One Silver (TSLV) and provide an overview of the com-
pany’s portfolio?
Tier One Silver (TSLV) is a new exploration company that just started trading on
José M. Can you explain the circumstances
that led to the merger of Oro X and
duction at the mine, and to do this we
have an aggressive drilling program of
the TSXV. It was spun out of Auryn Resources in October 2020. We raised and
spent over C$100 million in Auryn looking for world-class precious and base metal
Garcia Latitude Silver to create Silver X?
Latitude Silver was founded four years
ago with the idea to find opportunities
30,000 meters planned in 2021. We will
also explore the possibilities of deeper
mineralization, to break the paradigm of
discoveries. We succeeded in identifying significant projects in both Canada and
Peru, including three flagship opportunities, and now Tier One Silver has one of in Peru. Looking at old mining districts, narrow-vein mining. We believe that the
them — the Curibaya project. This project has been getting a lot of attention due we eventually found a home in the Re- 600 tonnes per day (mt/d) at the plant
CEO cuperada district of Huancavelica, and we have today has the potential to be
to the incredible high-grade silver that’s been sampled on surface and the large-
scale geophysical targets situated directly below that high-grade. We have also SILVER X renamed it Nueva Recuperada. significantly increased over the coming
identified two additional high potential projects – Hurricane Silver and Emilia. Hur- The combination with Oro X provides years.
ricane Silver is an underexplored region of Peru with exceptional silver grades and two opportunities; it has two interesting
outcropping veins identified in early sampling work. Emilia, which sits next to Tía projects, Coriorcco and Las Antas, but What potential do you see for major
María, could be described as an analogue to Cerro Verde – a massive porphyry just as importantly, Oro X comes with discoveries in the Nueva Recuperada
system outcropping along the coast of Peru that has seen limited exploration work. an outstanding management team. The district?
Ivan What type of mineralization do you have at Tier One’s flagship Curibaya pro-
perty?
idea with Silver X is to create a mid-tier
silver producer in Latin America.
Geologically speaking, Recuperada is
a big epithermal system that has been
mined at a modest scale for silver, lead
Bebek Curibaya is an 11,000-hectare property located in a copper porphyry belt that hosts
some of Peru’s largest deposits, including Cerro Verde, Toquepala and Quellaveco.
What steps need to be taken to put
the Recuperada mine back into pro-
duction?
and zinc since colonial times. In the
district, where Silver X owns more than
15,000 hectares, we have multiple tar-
It is a fully preserved precious metal target, the first major epithermal occurrence
on this belt, on top of a what may potentially be a large porphyry intrusion, which The Recuperada mine, which is a for- gets including more than 100 veins that
we’ve identified through magnetics. Of consequence, the highlights include 80 mer operation of Buenaventura, comes are mineralized. We believe that modern
samples on surface that run over 500 gram silver up to to 298 kilo silver over a 20 with a processing plant, a lot of infra- exploration and production techniques
km2 alteration system, as well as about 60 samples that run over 2 g/t gold up to structure, and all the social licenses to will bring the district back to life, making
Co-Founder & Co-Chair 934 g/t gold. operate. We see great potential for ex- it the next major silver mining district in
TIER ONE SILVER We recently completed geophysics, and identified 750 m of veins and breccia struc- panding the resource and scaling at pro- Peru. ■
tures, as well as a massive mineralized target that’s about 400 m in diameter. This
could potentially be the nucleus that these metals emanate from, situated above a
porphyry target that would start about 500 m from surface. This is one of the larg-
est exploration opportunities for a precious metal system that I have seen in my 21
years in this business in terms of abundance of high grade, scale identified through
geophysics and proximity to world-class deposits on a major mining trend.
Steve Pucara flew out of the gate after its
IPO, but the stock dropped when the
initial Lourdes results were released.
Can you elaborate on the Keyla HSE
gold project and the plans you have
for this asset?
60 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 61
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations
Situated 4,300 m above sea level in the situation, Zadka suggested that the On May 11th 2021, American Lithium upgrade resource classification (mov-
Andes in central Peru, the city of Cerro economic, environmental and health is- (TSXV: LI) finalized a deal to acquire Pla- ing inferred resources to measured and
de Pasco is built around a zinc, lead and sues need to be addressed together as teau Energy Metals and its Peruvian as- indicated). “Recent work has also iden-
silver mine, most recently operated by one package instead of working piece sets – the Falchani lithium project and tified at least two other key target ar-
Volcan. Although mining had brought by piece, as has been happening over Macusani uranium project. Plateau had eas to the west of the Falchani deposit
employment to the city for years, a the past 20 years. “All the water sys- been hit with a double whammy in re- that have the potential to be similar in
legacy of mismanaged assets stemming tems are connected, for instance, so the cent years, as a downturn in the lithium size and scope to Falchani. We will be
back to when the military government open-pit is hydrologically connected market coincided with legal issues re- launching exploration drilling in these
nationalized the mine resulted in high with the stockpile and the tailings.” lating to a number of its concessions. areas over the next several weeks,”
levels of lead pollution contaminating CDPR brought in Bernhard Dold as CTO However, the acquisition promises to he said, before commenting that work
the surrounding environment. Time in 2020, a leading expert on mine clo- breathe new life into two projects that done in 2021 will help American Lith-
Magazine listed Cerro de Pasco as one sure and acid mine drainage. “He has have the potential to diversify Peru’s ium position the project to move into
of the ten most polluted places on earth studied Cerro de Pasco and over 30 sci- mining industry into critical minerals the feasibility process in the first half of
as health issues began to escalate for entific publications on the region, and required for the transition to a low- 2022.
residents and wildlife. the consensus is that the health prob- carbon economy. “With better access Clarke also underlined that the compa-
In 2018, Cerro de Pasco Resources lems will not be fully resolved unless to capital, we believe these assets can ny sees a lot of potential at Macusani,
(CSE: CDPR) went public with the pur- you reprocess waste and move people move quickly through the development suggesting that the amount of third
pose of treating and reprocessing all out of the most affected areas,” related phase and create significant value for party interest they have received in the
the dumps, tailings, mining waste and Zadka, observing that a lot of people in all stakeholders,” stated Simon Clarke, asset in the wake of the transaction is
material resources in the Cerro de Cerro de Pasco want to move, but there CEO of American Lithium. validation of its value. “Uranium is be-
Pasco region, and in November 2019, is currently no economic way for them Indeed, Falchani and Macusani will now ing more and more accepted as a key
announced it would acquire Volcan’s to do so. have far better access to capital, con- energy metal and Macusani is the fifth
Oxidos de Pasco asset for US$30 mil- The company is now looking at partner- sidering American Lithium was the best largest undeveloped uranium project
lion. However, after several extensions ships that involve the government and performing mining stock on the TSXV on the planet,” he remarked, noting
pushed back the deal, CDPR decided external funds such as the multilateral in 2020, moving from under C$0.20 in that there is scope to add additional
not to extend the agreement at the end agencies, and has not ruled out the pos- early April 2020 to over C$4.00 in Feb- resources through further expansion
of October 2020. sibility of purchasing further assets in ruary 2021 to top the annual TSX Ven- drilling at Macusani, which the compa-
Steven Zadka, CDPR’s executive chair- Peru, as they have an operational team ture 50 list. ny plans to do near-term.
man, revealed that the company is now ready to work. The company intends to replicate the Clarke clarified that American Lithium
looking at establishing a partnership Zadka lamented the amount of govern- success it has had at its TLC claystone was committed to utilizing Peruvian ex-
instead. “There are legacy issues that mental changes in Peru, emphasizing deposit in Nevada, and to do this they pertise to develop the projects, which
belong to Volcan and Glencore that the need for Peru to recover ground lost have maintained the core of Plateau’s he believes will help put Peru on the
must be adequately understood and against peer mining countries, focusing Peru-based team, including Laurence map in the area of energy metals and
ring-fenced prior to any agreement,” he on productivity and speed of regulatory Stefan as president, COO and direc- clean energy. Although the relationship
said, adding: “We continue to believe processes to help bring prosperity to tor, as well as over 15 people on the between Peruvian politics and mining
it would be advantageous to Cerro de communities such as Cerro de Pasco. ground, including general manager has been turbulent, the potential to
Pasco for CDPR to reintegrate and oper- “There is an opportunity now to im- Ulises Solis. create jobs and establish a previously
ate the whole mine, as the asset would prove the health situation and econom- Elaborating on the company’s plans for untapped source of resources key to
benefit from a new management team ics in the region, but action must be tak- Falchani, Clarke explained that a drilling a green economy is a tantalizing pros-
looking at the operation holistically.” en, and a qualified neutral entity needs campaign would take place to further pect. ■
Expanding on the complexities of the to take the lead,” he concluded. ■ expand the existing resource and to
Steven CDPR, Volcan, Glencore and the Cerro de Pasco community all agree that this is a
unique problem which needs a holistic solution. There are economic, environment
and health issues in play, and they need to be addressed together as one package Simon
these assets can move quickly through the development phase. In addition, Pla-
teau has a very strong technical team, which will help round out our team and
bring more expertise in-house. Falchani is a volcanic tuff with different geology
Zadka instead of working piece by piece, as has been happening over the past 20 years.
All the water systems are connected, for instance, so the open-pit is hydrologically
Clarke
to TLC, but it is also near-surface and shares similarities with a lot of the flowsheet
work we are doing in Nevada which will be directly relevant.
connected with the stockpile and the tailings.
We brought in Bernhard Dold as CTO in 2020. He is one of the world-renowned How will the transition from Plateau to American Lithium work from an
experts on mine closure and acid mine drainage. He has studied Cerro de Pasco, operational standpoint in Peru?
Executive Chairman
and over 30 scientific publications on the region, and the consensus is that the health One of the key attributes of the acquisition is that we are able to bolt on a very
CERRO DE PASCO RESOURCES strong Peru-based team. At Falchani we will shortly be drilling to further expand
problems will not be fully resolved unless you reprocess waste and move people
out of the most affected areas. There is still a lot of value left in Cerro de Pasco, but the existing resource and moving inferred resources to measured and indicated.
it needs to be done strategically, step by step, which is what we propose to do. ■ CEO Recent work has also identified at least two other key target areas to the west of
AMERICAN LITHIUM the Falchani deposit that have the potential to be similar in size and scope to Fal-
chani. We will also be launching exploration drilling in these areas over the next
several weeks. Work done in 2021 at Falchani will help us position the project to
move into the feasibility process in the first half of 2022.
64 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 65
ENGINEERING,
CONSTRUCTION
&
CONSULTANTS
“Large projects are a multidisciplinary challenge, and
their development must include all the stakeholders; local
communities, governments, clients, and employees, and these
groups cannot work in silos”
- Gonzalo Covarrubias,
General Manager,
WSP Peru
68 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 69
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
70 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 71
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
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INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
When we last spoke in August 2020, political situation and some limitations How have mining processes been adapted to place a greater emphasis on
Covid had restricted a lot of the field due to the pandemic (such as delays in worker health and wellbeing instead of just injury prevention?
work. How have things evolved since the vaccination process) have limited Most mining companies have done a good job in terms of managing occupation-
then, and which of SRK’s services the growth of activities and investment al health; however, the Pandemic was a real wake up call to the entire industry,
have been in high demand? of junior mining companies in Peru. Ad- and we noticed a much greater demand for our occupational health expertise
There has been little activity related to ditionally, as part of M&A processes, we and services. For example, in pre-pandemic times, it was relatively easy to sched-
field works, mainly because most of the have done technical and economic due ule workers on different turnarounds and shifts. The Pandemic brought about a
constraints to accessing the sites are still diligence for banks and mining compa- sharpened focus on all aspects related to the movement of employees; not just
in force. We have continuously searched nies, which implicates junior companies at mine sites, but also while workers are at home with their families. Remote work
for alternative strategies, such as the commonly. has also advanced, such as mine dispatch centers from home offices, and I be-
implementation of advanced video con- lieve this trend will continue even when the virus is under control.
ference tools, the use of remote sen- Can you tell us about your partici-
sors and satellite info, and works with pation with the Global Mining Pro- What advice would you give to companies in Peru regarding social bottle-
drones. In parallel, we have needed to fessionals Association (GMPA), and necks and permitting?
hire qualified staff in the handling of SRK’s expertise when it comes to tail- The number one priority in terms of managing the social aspects related to mi-
74 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 75
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
In the wake of the Brumadinho tragedy in 2019, the Inter- also moving more towards lowering risks profiles – instead of
national Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) conducted a having one massive structure with an extreme consequence
multi-stakeholder review with investors and the United Na- classification, analyzing the impact of a couple of smaller
tions Environment Programme (UNEP) that resulted in the structures with lesser classifications.”
Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, launched Peruvian mining contractor Pevoex has also seen an uptick in
in August 2020. demand for tailings work, particularly for tailings dam expan-
The investigation led by the Investor Mining & Tailings Safety sion projects, according to general manager Rómulo Mucho.
Initiative revealed that around a tenth of tailings dams – 166 “These projects are highly technical as they involve a critical
of the 1,635 dams studied — have had safety issues in the facility with associated risks, as seen with the dam failures in
past. Considering there are over 3,500 tailings dams globally, Brazil in recent years,” said Mucho, who spoke of the strict
the challenge at hand will require buy-in from all parties, and criteria for projects including Quellaveco, for which Pevoex
Which of AMC’s services have been Which fiscal incentives has the gov- Can you elaborate on the different mi- not just the major ICMM members. Rohitesh Dhawan, CEO of is a subcontractor of the company building the tailings dam.
in high demand over the last 12 ernment introduced to stimulate ex- ning methods suited to different scale the ICMM, affirmed that the Council’s main priority is to con- Mucho added that the industry is adopting solutions like fil-
months? ploration in recent years? underground projects? tinue enabling the global industry to take up the new Global tered tailings, for instance at Cerro Lindo, but the cost of such
During 2020 the company officially The VAT early recovery system for ex- The mining method is primarily dependent Industry Standard on Tailings Management, for which a Good
formed an Advisory division to pro- ploration projects is an incentive that is upon the geometry and scale of the ore Practice Guide as well as Conformance Protocols have been
vide specialized services in areas such very attractive to investors. Everything body. Most experienced mining profes- launched in 2021. “Our ambitious goal is to find solutions
as performance diagnostics, strategy bought in Peru is subject to VAT at a rate sionals will have a reasonably good idea that will significantly reduce or directly eliminate tailings in
optimization, geometallurgy and val- of 18%. If you have an investment proj- as to the appropriate mining method for a the first place,” he added.
ue engineering. These services have ect of over US$500,000, you can apply deposit, but the mining method tradeoff is The Investor Mining & Tailings Safety Initiative was estab-
been in high demand since their official to the early recovery system and you are always critically important, as every deposit lished by a group of asset owners and fund managers includ-
launch. refunded the VAT. This is an incentive is different, and you can either make your ing the Church of England Pensions Fund, the New Zealand
to promote greenfield projects in Peru life very easy, or very difficult depending on Superannuation (NZ Super), as well as Swedish and Dutch
To what extent do you think the pan- and the rationale behind the system is the mining method you select. Speaking in pension funds. The current group now controls over US$24
demic has accelerated the implemen- that you use the money to re-invest in a general sense, if you have a vein deposit, trillion in assets, according to Adam Matthews, investment
tation of digital solutions in the mi- operations. Over the last few years, no mining methods such as variants of cut team director for the Church of England Pensions Board, and
ning industry? other incentives have been approved and fill or a long hole stoping would likely co-chair of the Investor Mining & Tailings Safety Initiative.
There has been a digitalization trend and no significant new legislation has be appropriate. For a larger disseminated He stressed that “investors do not invest in a vacuum” and
within the mining industry for years, been passed. deposit such as a copper porphyry, a bulk sector-wide reform is necessary if mining companies expect
which has been accelerated by the pan- underground mining method such a block to retain investment.
demic. We are seeing that some com- How do you think Peru could pro- cave would likely be appropriate, espe- At the forefront of this reform are the engineering firms and
panies are faster to adapt and adopt mote itself as a more stable mining cially if the deposit is relatively low grade. services related to mining waste. Dan Etheredge, general
than others. In my opinion, technology country? With respect to the bulk mining methods, manager of Klohn Crippen Berger’s (KCB) South American
is great, but technology just for tech- We have a lower cost of production there really needs to be a change in mind- office in Lima, revealed that 2020 was one of the most active
nology’s sake does not necessarily sup- compared to other countries in the re- set for those not experienced in bulk un- years ever for the engineering firm that specializes in tailings
port or add benefit. You have to think gion and lower power costs than Chile. derground mining, because the scale and management, and credited the Global Tailings Standard for
about technology strategically, how We have well-trained professionals in capex required for these types of opera- generating more awareness on the subject. Etheredge com-
you want to use it, and if it can be used the industry such as engineers and geol- tions is far greater than other underground mented that the bulk of KCB South America’s projects are
to the extent that it provides you with ogists. Peru has all the conditions to be mining methods. Large scale bulk under- tailings related, such as seismic hazard assessment updates
the right information. I believe that a very attractive destination for mining ground mining operations are more like and site selection studies, and commented on how clients
technologies that support automation, investment, but addressing the social large open-cut projects with respect to the have started taking a more long-term approach in their think-
remote operation of equipment and and permitting issues is paramount for capital profile, where US$1 billion could be ing.
iROC type centers are areas where the the country to fulfil its potential. ■ spent on the project before you generate “For example, they have 10 years capacity left on their exist-
industry can get the most value for in- any revenue. As such, it is critical to get it ing facility and want to know what their options are moving
vestment ■ right the first time if you are to embark on a forward – do I go to a new facility, or do I raise the dam of
project such as this. ■ the existing facility?,” said Etheredge, adding: “Thoughts are
76 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 77
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
solutions make them more applicable to projects with lower Amphos 21 was recently acquired by the RSK group. What does this acquisition
volumes. mean for the company?
When it comes to the design of modern tailings facilities or Tailing dams suffer a lot from pore pressure This has been excellent news for us, as it confirms the great trajectory of our company
upgrades to existing facilities, water use is at the crux of the and allows us to be part of a strong group with a powerful presence in Europe and
and the soil can become extremely
matter. The previous mainstream method of tailings manage- internationally. The group works in areas related with the environment and has services
ment, subaqueous deposition as used at Brumadinho, is be- saturated. Drainage geocomposites, in which were not yet inside our portfolio.
ing replaced by dry stacking, a method which permits the conjunction with other geosynthetics, line RSK is a very flexible group which respected our structure and working style, therefore,
recovery of the maximum amount of recycled water but re- the bottom of the dam to reduce any pore our structure has not changed, our management team remains the same, we have not
quires more capex. changed our brand and we have become integrated under RSK’s international division.
pressure which could affect the stability of
Amphos 21, the Spanish company acquired by RSK Group on The strategy of the group is to grow organically with its brand and inorganically with
December 28th, 2020, covers a wide range of services inside the structure. The Brumadinho dam disaster companies that can complement its service offering. Growth in mining in Latin America
the water cycle including environmental studies and how wa- in Brazil is the best case to promote this is part of the company goals for coming years.
ter is integrated throughout the life of a mine. solution, as the main fault that occurred was
Eduardo Ruiz, general manager of Amphos 21, expanded on Which services are you planning to introduce in Peru’s mining sector?
a number of the long-term projects the company is currently
a lack of proper drainage. RSK Group has a strong experience working in areas related with the environmental
involved in in Peru: “We are working in dewatering activities
for Antamina, in tailings reuse, and in the dewatering process
of Minsur’s tailings facility. Not only do we work in consulting
- Francisco Pizarro, Eduardo assessment, water cycle climate change, renewables, digital transformation and remote
sensing. It also has huge expertise on environmental remediation, which is closely relat-
ed to our day-to-day activities such as mine closure or the management of environmen-
Composites Commercial Director –
and engineering, but also in the design of solutions so we
can provide engineering, procurement, and construction for
Latin America,
Elydan
Ruiz tal liabilities. We believe we will be able to incorporate many of these services in Peru.
clients.” Can you give us details about some of the current projects you are working on?
Amphos 21 recently won the Smart Catalonia Challenge I would mention those related with essential activities, which helped us greatly during
competition for using technology based on machine learn- the pandemic; examples on this are dewatering activities for Antamina or associated to
ing to improve the management of water quality, noted Ruiz, tailings reprocessing for Minsur. Also closure activities and optimization of waste (acid)
remarking that the company is currently applying this type of water for some of our key clients such as Buenaventura group. Not only do we work in
technology in a similar project in Peru. ficient product. “Tailing dams suffer a lot from pore pressure General Manager consulting and engineering, but also in the design of solutions so we can provide engi-
The issue of mining waste is growing incrementally as mines and the soil can become extremely saturated. Drainage geo- AMPHOS 21 PERÚ neering, procurement and construction for clients.
increasingly extract lower grade ore. Such a large-scale composites from Elydan, in conjunction with other geosyn-
problem requires cross-industry R&D to generate solutions. thetics, line the bottom of the dam to reduce any pore pres- Amphos 21 was recently awarded the 1st prize of the Smart Catalonia Challenge.
French company Elydan, with broad experience in providing sure which could affect the stability of the structure.” Can you elaborate on the importance of R&D for the company?
solutions for landfills across Europe and Latin America, is now Using the example of Brumadinho, where the main fault that Amphos 21 has always had a strong focus on research, development and innovation
bringing its experience to the mining industry, according to occurred was due to a lack of proper drainage, Pizarro em- which comes from Spain, and since the beginning, we have been linked to European
Francisco Pizarro, Elydan’s composites commercial director phasized the value of geosynthetics to solidify mining sites investigation programs. We are proud that we recently won the Smart Catalonia Chal-
for Latin America. Pizarro explained how Elydan’s drainage structures. He revealed that Elydan is currently doing a year- lenge competition for using technology based on machine learning to improve the
geocomposites can replace part of the soil or rocks that are long test trail of 1,000 square meters of drainage for a tailings management of water quality. We are currently applying this type of technology to
used for drainage in tailings dams, leach pads or any solid dam in Chile, with the possibility to install 100,000 square improve our services in a pilot project in Peru.
structure that can suffer from saturation, with a thin but ef- meters of the solution once the trial has been successful. ■ We believe the development of machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of
Things is where we should head, in order to improve the safety of mining operations
and to reduce costs. At Amphos 21, we aim to be early implementers of these technolo-
gies into the water cycle, and even develop these technologies if possible. We have
We recently won the Smart made investments in this sense for several years, and fortunately, we have sustainable
Catalonia Challenge competition clients who trust us to carry out pilot projects.
for using technology based on
What are the company’s goals for the coming years and what growth potential do
machine learning to improve you see in Peru?
the management of water Mining is a large part of Peru’s economy and there will be great opportunities for growth
quality. We are currently in this sector, especially if the country manages to continue on the path it has followed
applying this technology to for years of attracting foreign investment. There is significant potential to optimize wa-
ter processes in the mines, and new technologies will help with this. Amphos 21 has
improve our services in a pilot experienced constant growth for many years, even in 2020, and we expect to continue
project in Peru. growing, providing solutions to the mining sector. After our company’s acquisition by
RSK, there is great potential to develop and incorporate new services and product lines
in Peru.
Amphos 21 was born with a vocation to innovate. We have many years of experience
and this gives us an excellent learning curve. In addition, clients are always at the center
of our activities: we listen to them, understand their problems, and help them with the
development of the solutions they need. Our aim is to be their long-term partners and
create value for them. ■
78 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 79
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
How was 2020 for Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) in South America?
Surprisingly, 2020 was one of KCB’s most active years ever, and we surpassed our
plans and budgets that were made pre-Covid. We were in that weird position
Construction and Scaffolding operators are the key component
where nobody likes to turn away work, but we had to be truly selective as we could
not accommodate all the requests. We have been actively hiring, but the market is
Contractors of the projects, both in terms of meeting
the project calendars and in terms of being
competitive.
Because of the work KCB did in response to the recent high-profile dam failures, exposed to Covid. So, we had to reformulate
our profile in Brazil has expanded significantly and we have received more work, our training program to a new five-level
including dam break studies and risk reviews and assessments. program, where theory-based courses are
In August 2020, the Global Tailings Standard was launched. Do you think it
done virtually.
has improved the state of tailings management?
The launch of the Global Tailings Standard was great for the industry and for KCB as ON THE FRONTLINE IN A REMOTE WORLD: - Jorge Reátegui,
well. The company is considered at the top end of tailings engineering consultan- THE EVOLVING ROLE OF CONTRACTORS General Manager,
cies and the standard has raised our profile, as we have always been an advocate
Layher Perú
Dan for tailings design and management stewardship. The majority of companies, espe-
cially the multinationals, are taking tailings more seriously with a more conservative
approach.
Etheredge What type of tailings projects has KCB been working on in South America,
and what are clients currently asking for? The challenges posed by Covid have complicated construc- work has given it the necessary expertise to develop under-
The bulk of KCB South America’s projects are tailings related, including seismic haz- tion projects and presented logistical headaches for contrac- ground mining projects. “OHL has developed a tunnel un-
ard assessment updates, site selection studies for new facilities, tailings technology tors with large workforces. For instance, Tom McCulley, CEO, der the tailings dam of Antamina of approximately 2 km, and
trade-off studies, and dam raise designs. People are starting to take a long-term of Anglo American Peru, revealed that the company has to do has carried out collection works on the leaks under the dam,
approach in their thinking. Thoughts are also moving more towards lowering risks around 4,000 to 4,500 Covid tests per week at its Quellaveco together with all the ancillary facilities of the tunnel itself,”
General Manager – South America profiles – instead of having one massive structure with an extreme consequence operation, currently under construction in Moquegua. The explained Ramones.
KLOHN CRIPPEN BERGER classification, analyzing the impact of a couple of smaller structures with lesser clas- industry response had been to transition, where possible, to
sifications, or changing tailings technologies to thickened or filtered tailings, for remote operations, such as Las Bambas’ recently inaugurated
example, to reduce risk. Digital Operations Center (DOC) in Lima.
KCB has been working with the full range of clients between juniors, intermediates Where does this transition leave the frontline workers and
and majors. Hochschild has been a client of ours for years and we continue to do how is their role evolving? Eduardo Bennett, CEO of South
a significant amount of work for them, both on new facilities and closures. When a American mining contractor STRACON, elaborated on how
new client approaches us, we look at their policies and standards to establish if we collaboration between mining companies and service provid-
can set up a working relationship. ers can benefit both parties. “The capacity to load and haul
materials is impossible to do remotely,” he said, continuing:
What are the benefits of dry tailings deposits compared to the traditional “This may be our role in the future of mining, and I believe
subaqueous deposition method? that in the next few years all of the in-person mining opera-
Traditional tailings is a slurry, and there are a significant number of considerations tions will be handled by service suppliers as partners of mi-
– seepage, filtration, spillways, excessive storm events, etc. are all potential risks ning companies.”
that need to be managed. There is definitely less risk with a dry stack facility. For Bennett mentioned that STRACON has been promoting its
example, runout, if it were to occur, is going to be significantly less with a dry stack services in many different countries in Latin America, but has
With advancements in not seen any significant possibilities for major greenfield pro-
deposit, obviously depending on the size and profile of the facility, but up to a
technology, companies can couple kilometers as compared to the 100+ km potential of a conventional tailings jects in the next few years. The company is therefore focused
improve not only design facility. Although the capex is usually higher, the risk profile of a dry stack deposit on brownfield projects, earth moving and dam construction
is significantly lower. services. Emphasizing the need for the industry to improve its
standards and criteria, but also
process, Bennett stated: “The future of mining is related to
take into consideration closure When is the best time for companies to consider tailings issues? two main aspects – technology and creativity. In my opinion,
scenarios way before they get The best time to consider tailings is before the mine is built. If you have a mine with one of the challenges for the next few years will be how we
to that point. dozens of years of useful life, you really need a roadmap for the future. It will be can adopt and fully integrate new technologies into opera-
beneficial to have a long term planning group looking at various scenarios which tions to be more efficient.”
can then be analyzed from various perspectives – technical, financial, and social. In In summary, he said that it is not about how many tons of ore
planning ahead, you can do a multiple accounts analysis of what your options are can be moved, but rather about how an operation can be as
and have a significantly better plan and idea moving forward so that you do not productive as possible.
have to make snap decisions. With advancements in technology, companies can Mining represents approximately 30% of OHL’s (Obrascón
improve not only design standards and criteria, but also take into consideration Huarte Lain) total sales each year, detailed Mariela Ramones,
closure scenarios way before they get to that point. Considering all scenarios in business manager of OHL Peru. The construction company
advance enables you to select the best option and you are not forced into picking has worked on large-scale projects for Las Bambas, Quellave-
a less optimal alternative. ■ co and Antamina in recent years, and believes its tunnelling
80 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 81
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Scaffolding specialist Layher has is to professionalize this segment,” he incorporate into the welding process- Can you introduce Calidra and explain support that has been developed through-
worked with Quellaveco, Mina Justa,
Southern Copper and Toromocho on
concluded.
Another service company in the
es. “For example, in order to create
isometric plans in pdf, we use Auto-
Martín its evolution in Peru and Latin America?
Calidra is a lime (including calcium oxide,
out our 120 years of experience.
82 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 83
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
84 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 85
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations
Cossio about how to mine. This project has motivated us to broaden the scope of projects we
take on. We are also involved in vertical development operations for Continental Gold’s
Buriticá mine in Colombia, constructing shafts for ore and waste passes..
a blow to the industry.
This also raises the question of how
> Hauling and transport
Chirinos In Peru, INCIMMET is the only contractor working on the Orcopampa and Tambomayo
projects for Buenaventura, where we provide integral solutions such as mine develop-
the underground industry could grow
under a Castillo government? On one
hand, mining companies and banks
ment, mine backfill, rock support and ore production. Nexa Resources’ Cerro Lindo, the may be reluctant to invest in large-
biggest underground mine in Peru, is also one of the standout projects INCIMMET has capex projects, depending on whether
CEO been working on for several years. We are also doing long haul drilling for Nexa. Ad- anti-mining rhetoric results in meaning-
INCIMMET ditionally, we have been conducting an engineering project for Cori Puno, a gold mining ful changes. On the other hand, small
company in Peru that also has an operation in Colombia. and medium-sized underground op-
erations, which have been Peru’s bread
Do you think the implementation of new technologies at mine sites has been ac- and butter, generally involve less envi-
celerated because of the pandemic? ronmental impact than larger open-pit
You first need a desire to invest in infrastructure before you take on the implementation projects. While it is still too early to tell
of technology. As a mining contractor we need to look for the balance, because we do how the following months and years will
not own the mine or make investments into IT infrastructure for the entire mine. The play out, companies which focus on im-
pandemic accelerated the willingness to adopt, but that does not mean that you will provements through the use of techno-
reach industry 4.0 in 2021. INCIMMET’s innovation strategy is focused on the short and logy can at least guarantee to maximize
medium term of our client needs, without neglecting the big trends in the long term. We productivity from their current opera-
believe this is how tangible and realistic progress can be made at a mining operation. tions.
In the quest for greater productivity,
As a contractor, how do you maintain safety standards whilst working across differ- Wilder Ruiz Conejo, general manager
ent mining environments for different clients? of JRC Ingeniería y Construcción, spoke INCIMMET PERU - Headquarters
For many years INCIMMET has been reinforcing its safety systems and philosophy, while of the work JRC has done with Bue- Av. Manuel Olguín 211 Office 1401 - 1404
adapting to the specific needs of clients. However, since we began working with DuPont, naventura's innovation department: “In Santiago de Surco - Lima 15023
Long term relationships are we changed our mindset to start working with one standard. Even though we thought addition to remote control equipment, Telephone Number: +511 714 7300
not only key for profitability in that we were already one of the best contractors regarding safety, we found significant we have been working to incorporate
space for improvement, and with the efforts we have put in over the past three years we INCIMMET AREQUIPA
the point of view of the mining multipurpose equipment with which
Calle Ferrocarril Nº. 413 Tingo, Cercado de Arequipa
have been able to reduce injuries by 98%. Moreover, in May 2021, we won a prize in an we can carry out up to three activi-
contractor, but also for clients, international contest for best practices in safety by ISEM. ties almost simultaneously, ostensibly INCIMMET COLOMBIA
as it takes some time to fully reducing the exposure of our workers Av. El Poblado Nº. 5 A – 11, Oficina 805 – One Plaza Business Center
learn how each mine can be What would you say are the benefits of maintaining long term relationships be- and allowing us to cover key positions Medellín, Antioquia - Colombia
tween contractors and mining companies?
optimized. in any project where we currently have
Long term relationships are not only key for profitability in the point of view of the mining difficulties due to the pandemic.”
contractor, but also for clients, as it takes some time to fully learn how each mine can be
More information:
JRC has undergone a process of expan- comercial@incimmet.com
optimized and for the efforts that you put in to show results. Contractors are anonymous sion and internationalization since 2019, www.incimmet.com
in the quarterly production results of mining companies, but at least 50% to 60% of the when it entered the Mexican market
success in the production relies on the contractor. We are in a very complex business and with Fresnillo PLC, related Conejo, and
without long term relationships, we cannot be sustainable. Contractors such as INCIM- is now looking at opportunities in coun-
MET have a lot of knowledge and experience to provide to clients, and through collabo- tries such as Colombia, Ecuador and
ration we can all achieve success. ■ India to continue its growth. ■
90 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 91
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Raise Boring
“We designed and have a patent on a
semi-automated raise boring machine
called the SMB 400 SR, and a bigger
technology offers considerable benefits
in terms of safety and speed, regardless
of the operation’s size. In robotics-led op-
Belisario
and Shotcrete model called the SBM 700 SR. The slot
raise (burn holes) that mines use for pro-
erations, risk is minimized and efficiency is
increased.”
Tijero The market still sees Master
Drilling as a drilling company,
duction are now being done by raise bor- Sattler explained that the speed of pro-
but these days we are really a
Specialists ing machines, which allows for less explo-
sives and therefore less waste,” detailed
Blattner, who noted that this brings down
cesses is key, especially for mines that rely
on small tunnels, because it can contribute
directly to profitability. “Laser technology
technology company.
MECHANIZATION IS INCREASING the cost, improves efficiency and set up also optimizes operations because it de- General Manager – Peru
SAFETY AND REDUCING WASTE time, and makes human contact as mini- termines the best processes for a given MASTER DRILLING
mal as possible. “This renders diamond volume and area and helps verify the cor-
drilling and all other forms slot arising infe- rect width of drilling,” he added.
The amount of small to medium-sized un- rior to the SBM-400SR system,” he added. For Master Drilling, the South African
derground mines in Peru has created a sub- In recent years, Robocon has become multinational, raise boring equipment
segment in the industry where companies a more vertically integrated business to and support services account for all of its What is Master Drilling’s current footprint worldwide, venturing into more unchartered territories. Therefore, raise
active in Peru have established a leading provide a full range of services related business in Peru, according to Belisario and how significant is the Peruvian market for the com- bore drilling machines must be able to drill deeper, faster
position in the development of machinery to shotcrete, including technology such Tijero, general manager. The company is pany? and more accurately. To ensure that rod handling is easy
and services for narrow-vein operations. as slick lines – a piping system that helps a pioneer of horizontal raise boring (HRB) Master Drilling has a presence in more than 19 countries, and quick with the minimum human intervention to reduce
Traditionally, raise boring’s purpose is for transport concrete within a mine. technology, developed to replace drill with 26 offices worldwide. The Peruvian market is extreme- risk, all our machines are automated (with pipe handlers &
ventilation of the exhaust of diesel-driven On the topic of innovation, Enrique Sat- and blast activities, which can danger- ly important to us. From our Peruvian offices we are also feeders) and a control panel provide readings to the opera-
equipment within mines. However, Tumi tler, Robocon’s CEO, spoke of how the ous. “HRB technology is used to create managing Ecuador, Colombia, and Guatemala, with Brazil, tor.
Raise Boring has developed the raise bor- introduction of laser technology has been horizontal excavation between two exist- Mexico and Chile having their own offices and general man-
ing process to put it into the production an important focus for Robocoon: “We ing tunnels in an underground mine. It is agers. We pride ourselves on tailoring solutions to meet In March 2021, Master Drilling announced a 40% invest-
field, initially because Nexa Resources specialize in the operation of small ma- mostly used for ventilation shafts from the the specific conditions and geographical challenges faced ment in data-driven mine management solution compa-
needed it for slot raising, according to chinery and laser technology is an excel- surface to underground, but also assists in by our clients. ny, AVA Solutions. What were the reasons behind this
general manager, Marc Blattner. lent complement to this. Wet shotcrete providing access for personnel or material transaction?
underground,” explained Tijero. Who are Master Drilling’s main clients in Peru in 2021? The market still sees Master Drilling as a drilling company,
He added that, compared to convention- Our client portfolio contains the main mining companies in but these days we are really a technology company. We are
al methods of excavation, HRB is safer, Peru. Our current active clients include Volcan, where we innovating and focused on delivering top quality services at
quicker, there are no explosives used, no have worked at their Chungar, Andaychagua and San Cris- the most competitive costs. The AVA acquisition is aligned
rock fractures associated with blasting al- tobal mines. We also provide services to Sierra Metals’ Yau- with the idea is to change the company’s profile from being
lowing more accurate excavation, the op- ricocha mine, Minera Bateas’ Caylloma mine in Arequipa, seen as a drilling company to now being seen as a techno-
eration is autonomous, and the solution is Trafigura’s Catalina Huanca mine, and the Casapalca mine logy provider. We are continuously looking for new techno-
more cost-effective. in center of Peru. We have been involved in different pro- logy solutions that make sense to our business and are for
Tijero pointed to the trend of mines mov- jects with Buenaventura and we are currently in operation at the benefit of our customers. AVA has excellent fleet man-
ing deeper underground that requires their Uchucchacua project. We are developing Hochschild agement solutions that are easy to install, cheap and fast.
raise bore drilling machines that can drill Mining’s Inmaculada mine.
deeper, faster and more accurately. “To At the moment, raise boring equipment and support servic- In terms of challenges and opportunities, how would
ensure that rod handling is easy and quick es account for all of our business in Peru, but the company you compare Peru to other mining jurisdictions?
with the minimum human intervention to is expanding from Peru with exploration drilling services. In terms of our specific market, there is increasing local
reduce risk, all our machines are auto- competition that drives us to take another look at our strat-
mated (with pipe handlers & feeders) and Master Drilling is a pioneer of horizontal raise boring egy. This is one of the reasons why Master Drilling wants to
a control panel provides readings to the (HRB) technology. Can you elaborate on how HRB dif- be perceived as a technology provider that offers innova-
operator,” he added. fers to traditional raise boring, and what type of opera- tive solutions to the market. We want to challenge the status
Montali S.A., the international raise mi- tions it suits? quo to provide
ning and shaft sinking contractor, works Master Drilling’s HRB solution was developed to replace our clients with specialized, adaptive, one-stop drilling solu-
with the likes of Buenaventura, Poderosa, drill and blast activities, which are aggressive and can be tions.
Sierra Metals and Hoschchild Mining in harmful. HRB technology is used to create horizontal ex-
Peru. Yrán Ludeña Santana, Montali’s cavation between two existing tunnels in an underground Why do you think Master Drilling’s method of working
general manager, detailed the compa- mine. It is mostly used for ventilation shafts from the surface adds value to mining clients?
ny’s wide range of underground services to underground, but also assists in providing access for per- We service our clients by conceptualizing, developing and
in Latin America, which include ground sonnel or material underground. Compared to conventional delivering the equipment they need, with a firm focus on
control, underground construction, infra- methods of excavation, HRB is safer, quicker, there are no ongoing support and continuous portfolio innovation. This
structure development and underground explosives used, no rock fractures associated with blasting, starts with the design and manufacturing of our products,
rehabilitation. “We are specialized in ex- you get more accurate excavation, the operation is autono- and extends to training, high operating quality and con-
cavating raise climber chimneys using Ali- mous, and the solution is more cost-effective. tinued maintenance. We provide operational support and
mak equipment,” said Santana. ■ The general trend is that mines are getting deeper and are complete project management for all our drill rigs. ■
92 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 93
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Enrique Yrán Ludeña are underexplored, one of them is Peru. This brings the certainty
that there will be a lot of work to do within the mining industry
for many years to come. Peru has reserves for the next 30 to 50
94 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 95
EQUIPMENT &
TECHNOLOGY
“Autonomy brings numerous benefits, such as a faster
production cycle, as we can increase speed in a safer
environment and maximize the trucks’ utilization. Also, the
performance of the trucks is optimized”
Gonzalo Giorgio
Díaz Pró Ferreyros and Caterpillar are
proud of being the first in
Mosoni With over 17,000 square meters
for parts and equipment, our
logistics center has tripled
deploying autonomous trucks
IPESA’s spare-parts availability
in the country. Peru is in the
and has centralized our
General Manager awakening of a new era in Co-CEO
machine dispatch.
FERREYROS S.A. mining. IPESA
How was performance impacted by sion for the company, because our center has tripled IPESA’s spare-parts
the pandemic in 2020? focus within mining has traditionally availability and has centralized our ma-
Overall, 2020 ended up being a great been with support equipment; mostly chine dispatch. It has reduced delivery
To what extent have you seen de- all 27 trucks will run autonomously. cle used in Australia, and has also been year for IPESA, which, considering the material movement during the pre- time from the moment of purchase by
mand for mining equipment evolve Quellaveco will be at the vanguard of introduced to the electrical 794 trucks conditions, was surprising even to us. construction phase of the mine as well about 40%, and doubled our machine
in the last 12 months? large-scale autonomous mining in the seen at projects such as Quellaveco As we moved out of the lockdown in as general road maintenance. Addi- warehousing capacity. The reduced
The second half of 2020 was positive, Americas. Ferreyros and Caterpillar are and Quebrada Blanca. Today, almost July and August, the recovery was tionally, we have focused on innovation lead times and greater inventory ca-
with each month from July better than proud of being the first in deploying 400 trucks are operating with Cat much faster than expected, and we and non-traditional equipment for the pacity has greatly benefited our clients.
the previous one. 2021 has continued autonomous trucks in the country. Peru Command globally, which is a result ended up growing 15% in 2020 in com- transportation of materials. For ex-
this trend, with mining companies look- is in the awakening of a new era in mi- of customers committed to boosting parison to 2019. During the pandemic, ample, IPESA commercializes Morooka Why do you think the integration of
ing to produce as much as they can, ning. their productivity through automated the agricultural sector was one of the equipment, a Japanese rubber track agriculture and mining is important?
and the industry has become accus- Autonomy brings numerous benefits, operations. Cat trucks running in Peru, few sectors that was allowed to con- carrier that allows for greater flotation. The greatest challenge the mining in-
tomed to working safely and efficiently such as a faster production cycle, as including units with a 400-ton payload, tinue operating. Since our company is These machines are currently working dustry faces in Peru is its relationship
around Covid. Our shops today (June we can increase speed in a safer envi- can be converted to autonomous ve- not only a machine provider but also in the San Rafael tin mine with Minsur. with local communities. The country
2021) are almost full and some of them ronment and maximize the trucks’ uti- hicles. I’d also like to highlight that we a service provider for this sector, we Finally, Wirtgen surface miners contin- is traditionally suspicious of large for-
are running double shifts because cus- lization. Also, the performance of the are in the process of implementing au- were able to continue operations on a ue to revolutionize traditional mining as eign corporations and governments,
tomers are pushing for more, which is trucks is optimized. Worldwide expe- tonomy in underground mining in Peru, limited basis throughout the pandemic, they avoid the blasting step in the mi- so rather than leaving the integration
partly a result of the high copper price. riences with Cat autonomy had shown with a R1700 LHD unit, using Cat Com- providing services and parts to essen- ning process. process up to the authorities, the bur-
In 2020, Ferreyros made a large invest- results of 20% to 30% improvement in mand technology. tial sectors in Peru. den is on private companies to bridge
ment in its parts depot in Lima, rebuild- productivity. At the end of the first lockdown, gov- How is IPESA participating in the this divide. At IPESA, we have always
ing the facility to give us 40% more Ferreyros is a large employer and ernment and private investment had transition from diesel machines to worked closely with local communities,
capacity. This was completed early this Can you tell us about Cat Command collaborates in many mining pro- a quick turnaround, so we saw an im- hybrid and electric equipment? and provide them with training so they
year, and has enabled growth through hauling technology from Caterpil- jects. In your opinion, how important portant increase in machine spending There is a desire to move towards elec- understand the benefits of potential
faster cycles and more storage. Invest- lar’s MineStar platform, and explain is the economic ecosystem that mi- in the second half of the year. Business tric equipment, but Peru is slightly be- added business when it comes to mi-
ments such as this are long term and how this allows mining companies to ning creates in Peru? results accelerated going into Q4, and hind because of the greater cost that ning operations.
characteristic of the way Ferreyros has adopt autonomy? We support the mining industry as a 2021 has started on the same trajecto- this technology demands at the mo-
operated as the company approaches The backbone of Caterpillar’s autono- key driver for improving the welfare of ry. Despite the tragedy, the pandemic ment. In mining and construction, IPE- Moving forward, what is IPESA’s
its 100 year anniversary in 2022. mous solutions is the MineStar suite, Peruvians. By taking advantage of the has allowed us to solidify business re- SA has a variety of hybrid equipment; strategy for growth in the mining
which was introduced to Ferreyros’ richness beneath our feet and inside lationships with our most important specifically, John Deere front loaders industry?
How will the Cat 794 AC 320-tonne portfolio more than 10 years ago. our mountains in an environmentally- clients. and excavators. On the Wirtgen Group The mining sector is currently dominat-
trucks at Quellaveco benefit the op- Originally this was designed to obtain friendly way and by paying taxes, we side, our Kleemann equipment (crush- ed by a handful of equipment provid-
eration in the long term? data from equipment to analyze how can generate wealth which benefits Which of the mining equipment IPE- ers) come with electric generators and ers, and we do not believe that this is in
Ferreyros has sold 27 trucks to Anglo the machines are performing, and then many people directly and indirectly. SA distributes has been in high de- engines in conjunction with the tradi- the best interest of mining companies
American for Quellaveco, of which 16 evolved to include a fleet management For one person working at a mine, mand in recent months? tional diesel engine. or the local communities. Our goal is to
units are already on site. Eight of these system and high-precision technolo- there are eight who produce goods IPESA started expanding its mining ser- consolidate IPESA as a viable and more
trucks are currently operating autono- gies. Therefore, we now have a com- or services around them. Mining rep- vices in 2020. In terms of heavy machin- IPESA’s new logistics center in Lima productive alternative to these legacy
mously, with no driver, with other four prehensive technology portfolio, which resents 60% of Peru’s total exports. ery, we tripled our presence by adding was inaugurated in September, providers, by demonstrating the value-
running manually, and the rest being includes Cat Command. This allows us Mining companies also promote the two 85-ton Hitachi ZX-870 excavators. 2019. What extra capacity does this add of our machinery, our world class
assembled and prepared for autono- to control the machine, and important- best practices in terms of sustainabil- These are currently working in Shou- give the company, and how does this service, and continuing to work closely
my. At the moment, both autonomous ly it is OEM agnostic, valid for Cat units ity, safety and productivity, and we as gang’s Marcona iron-ore mine south of benefit clients? with local communities. ■
and manned trucks are operating at the and other brands. It started with the solutions partners accompany them in Lima, and in gold mines in Cajamarca. With over 17,000 square meters for
mine site, but we expect that next year, Cat 793 truck, a mechanical drive vehi- their goals. ■ This is an important footprint expan- parts and equipment, our logistics
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INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
reach pre-pandemic levels. Q4 represen- and therefore reduce costs and lead times. these technologies fall under the umbrella How is Epiroc helping customers in the
tated a strong rebound in the areas of cons- of ‘One Komatsu’, the companies phi- digitalization process, and how is this
CEO truction and machinery rentals, and KMMP Can you explain how the technology losophy to integrate operations instead of being adopted in Peru?
General Manager –
KOMATSU-MITSUI agreed a number of contracts with mining Komatsu offers improves uptime, safety working in silos. In this area, I can highlight the impor-
companies, meaning we finished a chal- and productivity? Andean Region tance of Mobilaris, our information man-
MAQUINARIAS DEL PERU
lenging year strongly. In Q1 2021 we fin- We offer a range of solutions including re- 2021 is a year of significant anniversaries EPIROC agement system, which allows us to iden-
ished 15% above our sales target, and this mote assistance and remote conditioning for KMMP and its associated companies, tify the position of people and machines
upward trajectory has continued into Q2. monitoring – Remote care and Miencare – as well as for Peru. On that note, do you within the underground mine. The sys-
Although there is concern from our clients which permit the digital maintenance man- have a final message for our readers? tem generates alerts, in case a problem
about the impact of the election, there are agement of the fleet and increase uptime. 2021 is the 25th anniversary of KMMP, the arises, and allows optimizing travel times
still positivity in the industry stemming from KOMTRAX is Komatsu's remote monitor- 100th anniversary of Komatsu, and the 10th inside the mine. System monitoring can
the high metals prices, particularly copper. ing system that lets you monitor all the anniversary of our subsidiary Cummins. be done from a surface control room and
essential information about your Komatsu Along these 25 years, KMMP has become troubleshooting is mostly done remote-
Where has KMMP focused its invest- equipment directly on your computer, and a strategic partner to its clients, recognized ly. This represents a huge step forward
ments in the last 12 months? Immersive Technologies kits (simulators for as a leading company that provides the for the sake of the safety of people and
KMMP’s main focus is to maximize the reli- operators training ) and Komvision help in- highest quality equipment, technology and equipment.
ability and productivity of haulage fleets. In crease safety and improving productivity, services. It is important to mention, regarding the
2020, we field tested trucks for two impor- allowing the operator to have 360 degree Peru has a tremendous opportunity to digitalization process in Peru that Epiroc
tant mining clients which resulted in a con- vision and prevent colisions. double its copper production by 2030. We mining equipment that is arriving in the
tract for the provision and service support Komatsu’ SMARTCONSTRUCTION is a must take advantage of this, and create a country equipped with Certiq techno-
of new equipment. In 2021, we are final- package of solutions which help and im- climate which fosters mining investment logy for capturing operation and mainte-
izing the details for two more field tests for prove the service and performance of vehi- and sustainable development. ■ nance data, is growing day by day. This
growth reflects, both in the number of
To what extent has the pandemic ac- machines equipped with the Certiq sys-
celerated autonomous technology at tem and, above all, in the quantity and
Can you provide an overview of Cum- ensure it functions at the highest levels of Inc. For example, Preventech, a remote mine sites, and which technologies precision of the decisions that our mining
Frank Lazo & mins’ role and evolution in Peru’s mining
industry over the last years?
efficiency and productivity, delivering the
uptime required to meet customer expec-
monitoring technology that allows our
operations team to continuously monitor
does Epiroc offer in this regard
The pandemic has been an accelerating
customers can make, based on the data
provided by the machine and transmit-
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INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
Franklin
What are some of the standout pro-
jects you have worked on in the last
two years, and which of your servic-
this new standard, so the challenge is
to incorporate all the processes, little
by little, to the mechanized workflow.
Construction Another of the Swedish OEMs involved
in the space, Volvo, has implemented in-
house service agreements with mining
José Antonio Heredia, manager of Divemo-
tor’s trucks division, spoke of the company’s
decision to standardize its vehicles with
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Oscar Tobias Can you give examples of some of Volvo’s latest technological advance-
ments and how they add value?
Our leadership in transportation technology is driven by three main pillars: au-
Jaern In 2021, we are focusing Sigerstad tomation, connectivity, and electrification. Nowadays, we have a commercial au-
tonomous transport solution in Brönnöy, Norway, with 6 FH trucks that transport
on expanding into the limestone from the mine to the crusher.
underground, mineral Low noise levels and zero emissions are part of our priority. Volvo has been de-
outbounds and passenger veloping new clean transport solutions for many years now, not only with cleaner
diesel solutions but also with other ones like biodiesel, CNG, hybrid and fully
CEO transport segments of the
Managing Director electric solutions. Our ambition is to have at least 35% fully electric vehicles sales
SCANIA PERÚ mining industry. by 2030, to sell 100% fossil free Volvo Group vehicles from 2040 and to be CO2
VOLVO PERU
neutral by 2050.
With more than 1 million connected customer assets, we have the largest num-
ber of connected commercial vehicles and machines in the industry. Connectivity
is essential to our goals in order to increase efficiency and minimize environmen-
tal impact, as well as making our roads safer.
Volvo Trucks presented its first electric in 2018, a connected and autonomous so-
lution named Vera, designed for repetitive assignments in logistic centers, facto-
ries, and ports. This year, we also started to develop fuel hydrogen cells to have
zero emission but also autonomy in the long-haul transport segment.
How has demand picked up for Sca- very popular and we can customize this We will soon be launching Scania’s 10
nia in the last 12 months, and what robust product to mining customer’s x 4 Heavy Tipper, which has five axels What are the company’s key targets and objectives to achieve by 2022?
are some of the standout projects specific needs. and a V8 engine. This is Scania’s larg- Volvo has strong brand awareness and customer satisfaction among customers
the company has worked on? In terms of service, we firstly try to fully est vehicle with a gross vehicle weight and operators within trucks. This is something that motivates us incredibly and
In June 2020, when things started understand what the customer wants of 71 tonnes and it offers a high payload makes us strive towards designing and producing a better product for our cus-
gaining coherence and mines started and needs. We offer a full service con- of 48 tonnes. The V8 engine allows the tomers and also continue the development of our competent dealer network. ■
opening again, Scania came back with tract where we assume the risk of any- vehicle to have as quick of a cycle time
full speed. This was partly due to all thing breaking and give our customers as smaller vehicles. The high payload
the activity in the mining operations a 90-97% uptime guarantee. We are and quick cycle time increases operat-
space, the fact that we had managed taking the risk out of the contractor’s ing capacity and reduces the number of
to deliver more vehicles into our mining operation and putting the risk onto vehicles required by the customer, thus
operations, as well as a part of the fleet
becoming older which required more
service. This has generated a situation
us since we believe we are the best at
maintaining Scania fleets.
cutting on costs.
Scania has already put an electrical
heavy vehicle on the market for distri-
José Which solutions have been in high demand from Divemotor´s mining divi-
sion recently?
where we are today (March 2021) in-
voicing twice as much within our mining
operations as we were this time in 2020.
Can you explain how Scania’s service
solution incorporates finance?
In terms of financing, the operating
bution purposes, but it is not yet com-
pletely ready for the mining industry. Antonio All sectors, and especially the mining sector, are constantly looking to improve
their activities through better management, efficiency and cost control. This
is precisely Divemotor´s business model; we seek to maximize the utilization
One of Scania’s main milestones is the
delivery of 77 vehicles to the subcon-
tractor Dinet, which is operating three
lease set up has been really popular.
We offer a residual value in a future
point of time, which takes the risk off
What are the company’s principal ob-
jectives for 2021?
Growth continues to be key for Sca-
Heredia of vehicle equipment, and achieve the highest possible reliability, efficiency,
and the lowest possible operating costs through technology and innovation,
while providing excellent after-sale support. All these solutions have been in
mines – Cerro Lindo, Huaron and Mo- the customer in terms of reselling the nia. We managed to reach 9.3% mar- Manager – Trucks Division high demand especially after quarantine, as businesses are looking to recover
rococha. All of these are underground vehicle as there is already a fixed cost ket share in 2020, and have a goal to DIVEMOTOR their pre-pandemic operating levels. Divemotor’s vehicles also guarantee 5% of
mining operations, which is a new area with a competitive interest rate. The increase this to 12% for 2021. Looking fuel savings through the application of new technologies, and this has also been
Scania is entering with our Heavy Tip- asset is also on the balance sheet of at what we have been delivering in the extremely attractive to clients in the mining industry.
per. Our existing flagship projects in- Scania finance and therefore not on the first quarter of 2021, we are already
clude the Shahuindo mine and the El sheet of the customer, which is benefi- above that target. In the mining seg- What are Divemotor´s main objectives in Peru’s mining industry for the
Brocal mine, where we have seen sig- cial for contractors as they have a fixed ment specifically, we managed to grow next two years?
nificant growth. cost instead of a depreciating invest- our market share in 2020 to become Divemotor´s growth is oriented towards the mining sector. This industry is be-
ment. one of the top three players of our sub- coming gradually more aware of the importance of how their concentrate is
What are the benefits of Scania’s ve- segment in the industry. In 2021, we are transported to the ports where it is shipped, and how the supplies that mines
hicles to mining clients? Can you elaborate on the latest Sca- focusing on expanding into the under- need to operate, such as lubricants and explosives, are transported into the
Scania’s main differential is the com- nia solutions that contribute to more ground, mineral outbounds and pas- sites. This is why we are currently experiencing strong growth in our vehicles for
plete solution we offer to the customer sustainable operations? senger transport segments of the mi- road transport, which incorporate very innovative solutions in terms of design
in terms of product, service and finance. For 2021, we have clear targets to re- ning industry. We also want to continue and equipment. For instance, Divemotor has developed a specialized vehicle
Looking at the product, Scania’s Heavy duce emissions focusing on gas solu- delivering on the development commit- for rural areas to operate in places such as the southern mining corridor, where
Tipper solution, which offers the high- tions. Scania has a large portfolio of ments of the UN global pact, of which there is an intensive use of vehicles to transport concentrate to the ports. In ad-
est payload and highest uptime com- gas-driven engines that can be placed Scania is the only heavy vehicle manu- dition, we intend to grow in terms of support vehicles that operate inside the
pared to other vehicles in the market, is in our vehicles. facturer in Peru that is a member. ■ mine. ■
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EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Equipment Raúl How have bottlenecks such as the rising costs of logistics impacted de-
mand for FUCSA’s products?
Due to the rise in the cost of logistics, some foreign products became more
Components Ferrero expensive, which might lead to the market looking more towards local pro-
duction. At the start of the pandemic, shipping and exporting was still easy if
you could get to the port. Today, it has become more difficult as the price of
containers has escalated five-fold and it is tough to find one. With regards to
FUCSA’s exports, we are still consistently delivering on time as we put in the
extra planning.
IMPROVING AND UPGRADING General Manager The pandemic lead to the closing of some mines, which affected the demand
for our products. However, mining companies were busy with maintenance
MINING MACHINERY FUCSA
operations while they could not produce, which resulted in FUCSA having a
FUNDICIÓN CHILCA S.A. backlog of orders when we restarted operations.
Can you provide an overview of the products FUCSA offers to the mining
In the last five years, new mining op- industry?
erations (including Las Bambas in 2016), FUCSA has four furnaces, six smelting kettles, three molding lines, boring ma-
expansions (Toquepala in 2018), and Image courtesy of Bosch Rexroth chines and vertical lathes, as well a fully equipped laboratory, which means
developments such as Mina Justa and that we can make various products at the same time. The products we en-
Quellaveco, have resulted in an expand- OEMs such as Resemin, for which it sup- purchasing power globally in 2021, ac- gineer for the mining industry include components for earth moving equip-
ing fleet of mining vehicles in Peru. This plies components for mobile transport cording to Luis Flores, general manager ment such as crawler shoes and idler rollers; mill liners and crusher cones and
has offered a wealth of opportunities machines and loaders. of Austin Peru. He commented that the mantles; pump parts and an array of other castings. Although our business is
for companies specialized in equipment “In comparison to open-pit mining, un- company’s Peruvian sales in 2020 and mainly directed to OEMs and large mining companies, we can adapt to the
components. derground mining needs more hydraulic 2021 have been concentrated principally needs of any client. By means of this software, we shape quality and increase
While the pandemic stunted this growth, equipment per tonne produced. This is in the southern region, working with cli- efficiency, which defines filling parameters, solidification, residual stress and
pent-up demand and high copper prices especially relevant for mobile equip- ents such as Las Bambas, Southern Cop- the metallographic structure. ■
have contributed to a strong rebound in ment, such as drilling equipment,” ex- per and Marcobre.
2021. “Mining companies were busy with plained Kai Rothgiesser, Bosch Rexroth Explaining the ROI customers can expect
maintenance operations while they could Peru’s general manager, who added that using Austin’s equipment components,
not produce, which resulted in FUCSA the service needs are also higher in un- head of business development for Peru,
having a backlog of orders when we re- derground mining because of rough con- Santiago Guillermo, noted that clients
started operations,” related Raúl Ferrero,
general manager, of Fundición Chilca
(FUCSA), a Peruvian foundry which pro-
ditions.
Nasdaq-listed Astec Industries is best
known as a leading manufacturer of
have obtained 12% to 15% more pro-
duction profit through the use of Austin’s
customized truck bodies. Elaborating on
Kai Rexroth’s service center in Arequipa opened in November 2020. What were the
reasons behind building the center?
We already had some sales representatives in the region, but the new location will push
vides items for both processing plants
and mobile equipment.
FUCSA’s portfolio of products includes
equipment for asphalt road building
and aggregate processing, however, the
company also supplies a wide range of
how the equipment adds value, he said:
“We optimize the weight of the truck
bodies in accordance with the require-
Rothgiesser the service and repair activities in an important region for Peruvian mining. Previously,
clients would send parts for repair to Lima, but the facility in Arequipa makes things more
convenient and will allow for greater uptime.
components for earth moving equipment mining products, including underground ments of the mine. The key is to develop
such as crawler shoes and idler rollers, equipment, high-frequency screens, the specific engineering and build truck Can you tell us about some of the new technologies Rexroth is working on in the
mill liners, crusher cones and mantles, cone crushers and jaw crushers. Carlos bodies that are exclusive for each opera- area of energy saving?
pump parts and an array of other cast- Fonseca, regional managing director tion and each client, bearing in mind that General Manager – Peru Rexroth is developing sensors measuring the energy consumption of motors, for exam-
ings. Ferrero explained how its software of Astec LatAm, was hired to start the climate conditions, density and operators REXROTH ple, whereby data is sent via clouds to the workplace of the customer. We then develop
allows for maximum production process company’s Latin American operations are not the same despite using the simi- an interface together with the customer which serves their needs. It is the same principal
control and design optimization: “By in 2019, where the mining industry ac- lar equipment.” as our conditioning monitoring, following up on industry KPIs such as temperature or
means of this software, we shape qual- counts for Astec’s biggest client base. Valves, that regulate, direct or control the vibration.
ity and increase efficiency, which defines Fonseca used to be general manager of flow of a fluid, are another key compo-
filling parameters, solidification, residual Komatsu’s Peru and Colombia mining di- nent of mining equipment. Carlos Alva, Where would you like to see the company by 2022?
stress and the metallographic structure.” vision, and acknowledged the competi- general manager of ABSISA, the valve We are very optimistic about 2021, and the company is aiming at around 25% growth in
Discussing opportunities for suppliers of tive market for underground equipment. and flow control specialist, elaborated Peru this year. I expect the current market dynamics to continue growing at a high rate for
mining equipment components, Rexroth, He mentioned the key to success is hav- on the company’s services, which include the next few years, as the outlook for metals prices is strong. Peru has now learned that
a German hydraulic drive specialist that ing robust, well-engineered products, preventive and corrective maintenance the country cannot close down, and the industry is much better prepared for a second
forms part of the Bosch group, sees po- as well as having extensive knowledge and the detection of flaws: “We assist cli- wave than it was in March 2020.
tential for growth in the underground on the ground. “For instance, Canadine ents in the selection of the right valves,
space, according to Kai Rothgiesser, has been our distributor in Peru for over according to norms and to the param- Why should a mining company choose Rexroth as a partner?
general manager of Bosch Rexroth Peru. 30 years, so they have deep knowledge eters of application, and our technicians Companies should make a bet on technology and digitalization. They are doing that, but
Rexroth currently participates in under- about the products.” analyze all the relevant indicators of each it is something which must continue, because it is a trend which is not going away. In this
ground mining operations through con- Australian equipment provider, Austin, valve, including temperature, pressure regard, Rexroth is a very strong partner, with experience abroad, state of the art techno-
tractors such as AESA and INCIMMET, or has seen a promising uptick in mining and airtightness.”. ■ logy, and a technically-sound team. ■
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112 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
tion, establishing a new culture, mission These mills are engineered to order from Metso Outotec can today offer a full di- Are all of Weir Minerals services centers in Peru now operational?
and vision. I am pleased to say that based data obtained by the customer. Our se- gital plant to its customers and we have All of Weir Minerals service centers in Lima, Arequipa, Cajamarca, La Oroya and Espi-
on Q1 results in 2021, we are exceeding lect mills are standardized and fit for pur- reached great heights in terms of auto- nar are now open and running. The opening of our new service center in Moquegua
stakeholder and marketplace expecta- pose, with certain sizes and certain power mated monitoring. Today, we have more was delayed due to the pandemic, but we have restarted the process, are about to
tions. We have combined the best of two ranges, helping reduce capex. than 1,000 crushers being remotely con- sign the paperwork with the owners, and expect this center to open in Q3 2021.
companies and now we can deliver more trolled and monitored from our control Managing Director
to our customers, making the revenue Considering the high metals prices, center in Santiago. With our automated WEIR MINERALS PERU Can you tell us about some of Weir Minerals latest technologies that help with
opportunities huge. what are the priorities of your clients solutions, we are offering remote con- metal recovery?
Our business lines have been redefined, at the moment? trolled mills for new projects in Peru such Weir Minerals has been investing in the R&D of technologies for the transition to
reengineered and aligned to the new Currently, the most important aspect for as Yanacocha Sulfides, Magistral and San Industry 4.0 in mining, such as our Synertrex platform. Synertrex is a control and data
strategy, therefore more responsibility is customers is to recover water and fines Gabriel, free of charge for a period of collection system that obtains on-site equipment information, such as how different
coming towards the Regions (like SAM) from tailings dams which have copper time to validate the solution in front of equipment interacts in the process and product efficiency. Collected data is then
to be more proactive and have the own- and gold content. With the current high the customer. analyzed by our experts to optimize the performance of the entire circuit in real time.
ership on proposals and technical sales metal prices, recovery means extra rev- This can be done remotely due to the virtual and digital tools we have available now,
support to our front end sales groups. We enue. Within our plant solutions busi- How is the political turbulence in South which results in significant cost savings for the customer.
have key account and site managers for ness line, Metso Outotec is focused on American impacting the way you do busi- We also recently released the second version of Weir Minerals Hydrociclones Cavex
every important customer in the region, the modularization of plants to recover ness? 2 product, which marks a new era in separation technology. The Cavex 2 allows cus-
which makes us be more present day to water and content in tailings. We sell Due to political uncertainty in South tomers to process more and have a better particle size cut, but with the same foot-
day for our customers. the entire solution – filters, structures, American countries, we need to be more print as the original Cavex. The better you can classify in a mill circuit, the better
thickening, pumps, piping, and electrical united than ever with our customers. recovery you will have, maximizing profits. This product has been very successful in
Can you tell us about some of Metso components. We have implemented our We are in a situation where a new con- projects around the world and is now being tested on projects in Peru.
Outotec’s latest technological deve- solution for two important customers in stitution is being drawn up In Chile, and We set up the biggest and
lopments for crushing and grinding Brazil, but at this stage are only offering a new government is being elected in highest tailings pumping As the vice president of Women in Mining (WiM) Peru, how much have you seen
processes? it as small scale plants that will be repli- Peru, the two biggest copper producers. facility in the world at diversity improve in recent years?
We have just formed a new group called cated in a bigger scale in the near future. In the case of Chile, it has already been Diversity in the mining industry has not improved much, illustrated by the fact that
If you have an operation producing over
Toromocho, erected and
IPCC, which stands for in-plant crushing approved that royalties will increase from over the past 10 years women have only represented around 6% of our industry. Dur-
and conveying solutions. Our IPCC group 50,000 tonnes per day (mt/d), a recov- 3% to 5%. commissioned by a 100% ing the pandemic, two out of every three jobs lost were by women, as they had to
works with customers on the mine plan to ery plant is worth it as the ROI is quite One of the issues is that local communi- Peruvian team. take on more household responsibilities and were more likely to have to look after
design where the crusher needs to be lo- quick. For example, a customer that ties often do not see the benefits of the children than men.
cated and how it needs to be built. Met- spent US$1.50 per tonne for water recov- money that mining companies pay to On the other hand, I have noticed a real purpose from industry to become more
so Outotec has also upgraded its MKIII ery at its tailings dam wanted a solution the state. The way in which governments diverse. Many mines are joining associations to learn what diversity means and to
crusher, and already sold around 15 units which would lower capex. We were able serve communities needs to change, start the process of implementing policies and strategies to encourage more diverse
to Russia and Australia. We have also to build a solution with a recovery cost which will help change the perspective of participation in their organizations. Nexa Resources are leading the trend towards
developed a FIT crushing station which of US$1.30 per tonne, which gives a ROI the mining industry and enable growth. diversity in the mining industry, and they even have campaigns to educate their sup-
is more standardized, and modularized within 30 months. Structural changes are necessary, but pliers in this regard. Other mining players advocating diversity include Newmont Ya-
plants which saves customers investment we remain faithful that good things will nacocha, Gold Fields, Quellaveco, Las Bambas, Cerro Verde, Constancia, Hochschild
on engineering. How would you compare the adoption happen in the region moving forward, as amongst others. I really believe, and it has been proven, the only way in which diver-
In terms of grinding, Metso Outotec pre- of new technology in Latin America there is no shortage of opportunity. ■ sity can be achieved is when the initiatives come from the top down. ■
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Fernando
From an R&D standpoint, what solutions has Martin Engineering been work-
ing on in 2021?
Barrio
We are focused on improving the reliability of systems through our solutions to It is going to take at least two
increase the efficiency of mining operations. Remote monitoring and remote years for everything to go
technical support has become paramount in today’s time, and we are working
on solutions and technologies which enable us to support our customers with
back to normal. Therefore, we
specialized services from locations away from the mine site. must take full advantage of
Martin Engineering is developing remote monitoring solutions which enables us virtual solutions to stay close
to see if our products are working correctly, if they are well maintained, and when General Manager
to clients. Communication on
replacement of wearing parts will be necessary. Currently, our remote monitoring TECNOMINA
solution are applied to our primary cleaner products, but will soon be applied to
various fronts is key in such
other product lines. The mining industry has always been conservative in imple- situations.
Javier menting new technologies, but the pandemic has dramatically accelerated the
need for these solutions.
Schmal What are the benefits of Martin Engineering’s stand-alone pneumatic ten-
sion system for belt cleaners?
Our stand-alone pneumatic tension system delivers precise tensioning through-
out all stages of our blades’ life, reducing the labor typically required to maintain How did Tecnomina manage to in- Can you explain the benefits of the ents: we aim to provide them with a
optimum belt pressure and extending the service life of both the belt and the crease revenues in 2020 despite the products Tecnomina works with? diagnosis and offer them a customized
cleaner. Equipped with sensors to confirm that the belt is loaded and running, impact of the pandemic? Rema Tip Top has a range of first-class solution. We are getting increasingly
the system automatically backs the cleaners away during stoppages or when the The pandemic had a great impact on products for everything related to the involved in preventive maintenance,
Vice President – Latin America conveyor is running empty, minimizing unnecessary wear to both the belt and Tecnomina´s service supply because reparation and maintenance of convey- using high-tech equipment to evaluate
MARTIN ENGINEERING cleaner. The result is consistently correct belt tension, with reduced power de- the qualified workforce, which was al- or belts and, since 1970, it also has an- the condition of conveyor belts, includ-
mand on start-up, all managed without human intervention. This system increases ready quite limited in Peru, faced the other unit for anti-wear, anti-corrosive ing dynamic radiographic equipment,
safety, productivity and cost efficiency for the customer. issue of quarantine and mobility re- and anti-abrasive coatings. For many ultrasound sensor equipment, and
strictions. This reduced our capability years, Rema Tip Top had focused on scanning equipment. This technology
What type of return on investment can clients expect when using Martin to meet our clients´ demands. Despite products such as rubber, glue, tools, can be used while the conveyor is in
Engineering’s solutions? this, we managed to mitigate the nega- etc., but in 2000, with the Antamina and movement, which is a great advantage.
One of our customers revealed that they used to spend 10 times the money to tive impacts through agreements with Yanacocha projects, we grew signifi-
actually clean their equipment compared to what they invested in our products to our collaborators to remain in the field cantly in the service area. Another line What is your outlook for Peru’s mi-
prevent cleaning. Our products and solutions focus on protecting workers from for prolonged periods of time in order of business of Rema Tip Top is in the ning industry in 2021?
injury or illness, eliminating wasted motion and energy use, moving as much prod- to reduce workforce turnover and trips automotive sector, specifically in tire re- The mining industry is showing itself
uct as possible in the system per given length of time, maximizing production and as much as possible. Regarding prod- pair. Apart from that, since their acquisi- as the key pillar of Peru’s economy, de-
revenues while minimizing costs, all of which add value to a mining operation. uct supply, Tecnomina had the neces- tion of the Dunlop unit in South Africa, spite social conflicts. Mining companies
sary stock to meet our clients´ needs. Rema Tip Top also sells conveyor belts, have been providing support to remote
One of our customers Looking towards 2022, which areas of the business and which regions do We did have certain problems with and we are collaborating with them in communities during the pandemic
revealed that they used to you see as having high potential for growth? imports, as there were vessel restric- this area of business. through oxygen donation and other so-
There are many opportunities in the technology space, particularly for remote tions due to the pandemic, but this did However, Tecnomina is also an agent cial initiatives.
spend 10 times the money solutions, and we aim to continue complementing our product offering with the not reduce our company´s revenues; in for other companies such as Semper-
to actually clean their latest technologies. Geographically, Brazil will continue to be a strong market for fact, we managed to increase our earn- trans, a European brand that manufac- Considering the current situation,
equipment compared to what us, and we believe that we will see high growth in Mexico in the coming years. ings by almost 3% compared to 2019. tures first-class girdles. We are also in and the importance of social distanc-
they invested in our products Peru has vast potential, and could even become a larger producer than Chile in Our rise in earnings came, first, from contact with Chinese companies that ing, how to you plan to stay close to
the future, but this is dependent on improving the social conflicts that has slowed the sale of Sempertrans conveyor belts supply conveyor belt-related products clients?
to prevent cleaning. mining development. Regardless, it is still a very important market for Martin En- for Las Bambas, second, from the sale for a middle market. In summary, we The provision of services is what keeps
gineering and a major player in the region. of cleaning systems from Rema Tip have a wide range of suppliers to adapt us close to our clients, and unfortu-
Top to companies such as Las Bam- to the specific demands of each market. nately, we currently cannot go physi-
Do you have a final message about how Martin Engineering can help mining bas, Cerro Verde, and Antapaccay, and cally to the field. Even if restrictions are
companies optimize production? third, from the sustained sale of our Can you explain Tecnomina’s focus on progressively lifted, it is going to take
Martin Engineering wants to be a real partner to its customers. We work closely traditional products, and finally, from innovative solutions such as preven- at least two years for everything to go
with them to fully understand their challenges, pains, needs and goals, and we the provision of services to important tive maintenance? back to normal. Therefore, we must
personalize solutions depending on the context of the mine or client we are work- clients such as Southern Peru Cuajone, Tecnomina is developing a plan to ac- take full advantage of virtual solutions
ing with. We will always continue to develop solutions which increase safety, reli- who demanded a seven-month service quire new equipment to complement to stay close to clients. Communication
ability, productivity, sustainabilit and profit and now more than ever, with new for the maintenance of conveyor belts. the stock of equipment we already have on various fronts is key in such situa-
technologies. ■ to better meet the demand of our cli- tions. ■
116 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 117
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
118 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 119
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
operations managers look to meet quar- using Pitram, as well as using the in- opined: “The biggest challenge is the increased efficiency and digital monitor- Erick Iriarte, CEO of B2B platform eBIZ
terly production targets. Implementing formation gathered to make decisions digital mindset. Here is where change ing of equipment, as well as solutions Latin America, related that the cost
new processes in a mine is often far based on actual data gathered in real management will play a key role, espe-
The most common relating to industry 4.0. He summarized: structure of companies in the mining
more disruptive than in other industries, time. cially in legacy operations where most challenges we see is “The industry is looking at how to inte- sector shows that about 46% of operat-
and therefore the onus lies with the Wilson Monteiro, hub division manager of the operators have done the same the need for increased grate data for equipment in the entire ing costs come from the supply and lo-
technology providers to convince clients – process industries for South America job the same way for the past 30 years… efficiency and digital mine to mill process.” gistics processes. With this in mind, eBIZ
of their benefits. at ABB, echoed the sentiment that the Fear of the unknown and fear of failure For the industry to embrace technology was formed 20 years ago to optimize
“The biggest cost and barrier in adopt- biggest challenge in moving towards are perhaps the most common drivers
monitoring of equipment. on a large scale, it will require the buy-in these processes, either by reducing
ing a new technology is not the techno- an autonomous operation is the human to postponing digital transformation ef- We are also starting of companies of all sizes, not only the tier business cycles or by improving the in-
logy itself, but rather the time the client factor. “Our main job is thus educating forts.” to receive significant one producers with big budgets. To that teraction between buyers, suppliers and
will have to invest in change manage- rather than selling a product,” he said, Travezaño added that another challenge end, Emilio Gómez de la Torre created service companies. “We developed an
challenges and solutions
ment,” reflected Guido Perez, head of observing that many companies are try- is the lack of digital talent in the region Linkminers. “We look to boost the future e-business solution called B2M (B2Min-
Micromine’s Pitram business unit for the ing to jump directly to fully autonomous and industry, and the time it takes to relating to industry 4.0. of mining through creating opportuni- ing) that streamlines B2B relations be-
Americas region. “For example, Pitram operations without following the neces- develop these skills within the current The industry is looking at ties for everyone – large, medium, and tween players, from automating infor-
is a tool which completely changes the sary steps. workforce. Eventually, the implementa- how to integrate data for small companies… creating an easy link mation exchange (i.e., payment dates,
operation of a mine, and therefore re- On that note, Monteiro divulged that tion of the digital mine concept will bring between mining companies and mining document registry) to increasing oppor-
equipment in the entire
quires a substantial number of hours for ABB, Epiroc and Ericsson, supported sustainability, allowing for continuous suppliers,” he said. tunities to do business for both buyers
training its users. In the case of Pucobre, by the Swedish Chamber, have collab- operations, more efficiency, and more mine to mill process. Linkminers’ digital platform helps com- and suppliers,” he explained.
this involves training 100 operators.” oratively embarked on educating the flexibility due to all the data available to panies connect without having to travel As business has become increasingly
In June 2020, Micromine closed its larg- market about the benefits of digitization make a decision. This will result in faster through the highlands of Peru, an ex- digital, Iriate warned of the mounting is-
est deal in Latam for the last three years and electrification. By way of example, investment recovery, more sustainable pensive task at the best of times that sue of cyber security, with eBIZ seeing a
- Emilio Gómez de la Torre,
with Pucobre in Chile. Perez noted that, he added: “By moving to autonomous operations and happier stakeholders. has been further complicated by Covid seven-fold increase of cyber-attacks on
while the training period for such a large and electrified options, ventilation (one However, it is a gradual process, and the CEO and Founder, medical protocols. The website is di- mining companies in the past two years.
project takes time, clients can increase of the largest costs in underground mi- providers offering a clear vision and vis- Linkminers vided into sections, such as explora- “In most cases, the triggering issue
the usability of their fleets by up to 10% ning) becomes less of an issue.” ible path to ROI will be those making the tion, concentrator plants, digital mine, was inside the company: not by techni-
to 15% within the first three months of Carlos Travezaño, CEO of Siemens Peru, early inroads. among others, and de la Torre revealed cal malfunction, not by foul play, but by
that the most common challenge clients mere human error,” he noted, underlin-
are looking to overcome is the need for ing that protecting information is the
increased efficiency and digital monitor- only way in which companies can ensure
ing of equipment, as well as solutions busines continuity. ■
Stimulating Peru’s mining relating to industry 4.0. He summarized:
supply chain “The industry is looking at how to inte-
grate data for equipment in the entire
For the industry to embrace technology mine to mill process.”
on a large scale, it will require the buy-in Linkminers works with the Mining Clus-
of companies of all For the industry to ter of Southern Peru (CMSP), created in
embrace technology on a large scale, it 2018 on the back of successful mining
will require the buy-in of companies of cluster developments in Antofagasta By moving to autonomous
all sizes, not only the tier one producers (northern Chile) and Australia. Benjamin and electrified options,
with big budgets. To that end, Emilio Quijandria, CEO of the CMSP, explained
that an important pillar of the CMSP is
ventilation (one of the largest
Gómez de la Torre created Linkminers.
“We look to boost the future of mining its open innovation program, launched costs in underground mining)
through creating opportunities for ev- at the end of 2019. The program features becomes less of an issue.
eryone – large, medium, and small com- eight main challenges affecting mining
panies… creating an easy link between companies, including CMSP members
mining companies and mining suppli- Hudbay Minerals, Anglo American,
ers,” he said. Southern Copper and Cerro Verde,
Linkminers’ digital platform helps com- which were identified by visiting mining - Wilson Monteiro,
panies connect without having to travel operations and talking to officials and
Hub Division Manager
through the highlands of Peru, an ex- executives.
pensive task at the best of times that “To complement our open innovation Process Industries –
has been further complicated by Covid program, we plan to carry out work- South America,
medical protocols. The website is di- shops in alliance with the chambers of ABB
vided into sections, such as explora- commerce of the region, universities
tion, concentrator plants, digital mine, and local institutes, and help companies
among others, and de la Torre revealed reach all the necessary standards to reg-
that the most common challenge clients ister as providers for the mining indus-
are looking to overcome is the need for try,” detailed Quijandria.
120 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 121
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
122 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 123
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
“Peru is a mining country with a lot of opportunities, but
because of the size of the mining industry here there are a lot
of regulations and authority involvement. Therefore, sometimes
processes can take longer than in industries with less
companies involved in the value chain”
- Wilson Miranda,
General Manager,
Confipetrol Andina
126 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 127
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations
Jorge because we have lost work with producers, but because junior participation has
really picked up in the last six months. We have worked with many of the juniors
active in Peru, and we are currently operate with 95% of the active juniors in the
with an imaging tool. Next, a large di-
ameter drill is sent in, which follows the
pilot hole, excavates the ore and brings
Granda country.
For the producers, we have continued to work with the likes of Antamina, Gold
the material to surface using reverse
circulation airlift assist – a low energy
Fields and Las Bambas, who have all been aggressive in their plans for brownfields method of cuttings transport. Once the
exploration to replace reserves, a trend that should increase in 2021. material is at surface, the third stage is
to dewater and separate the ore. After
To what do you attribute the increased exploration activity for juniors in Peru? the ore is processed, the fourth stage
High metals prices have certainly been a catalyst, but I believe it is more than that. combines the tailings with cement and
General Manager – Peru When mining was reactivated in July 2020, I spoke with one of our principal junior put the product into the hole created by
AK DRILLING INTERNATIONAL clients who related that the intentions of the authorities were starting to align with the drilling.
the mining sector, and the cumbersome bureaucracy that has plagued the industry “Essentially, the hole becomes a land-
was starting to be streamlined to expedite drilling permits. Obviously, there is still form tailings facility. Approximately 50%
work to be done, but it is a step in the right direction. to 60% of the material we take out, will
go back down. This reduces the reliance
Do you think there is a risk that drilling could be forced to stop during the on constructed tailings facilities, which
second wave of Covid-19? also reduces risk,” explained Angelo,
The mining sector in Peru was reactivated in Q3 2020, and both the industry and stating that Novamera’s SMD process
the government have learned a lot since then. We have been successful in estab- will allow companies to surgically mine
lishing the right protocols so that the workers that go to the mines are protected. steeply dipping, narrow vein deposits
If the protocols are followed, there should not be a need to stop activities again in more sustainably, economically and
future waves of the pandemic. safely compared to conventional mining
methods.
Can you give us examples of the latest technology utilized by AK Drilling, and The demand for drilling-related prod-
how it improves safety, efficiency and productivity? ucts, such as fluids and additives, has
AK Drilling focuses on compact drilling equipment that is easy to use. In collabora- also been robust in 2021. Industrias
At the beginning of 2020, AK tion with IDS, our technology branch in Chile, we have been developing technolo- Morven manufactures viscosifiers, filtra-
Drilling was working with more gies such as horizontal drilling, deep-pit drilling and automated diamond drilling. tion reducers and drill hole stabilizers,
The aim of this is to improve efficiency and productivity, whilst maintaining the and the company now accounts for 30%
producers than juniors (a 70/30
highest standards. In this respect, the human element of drilling is important. Re- of the national market share in Peru, ac-
percentage split), but this has mote work has accelerated during the pandemic and this is a good thing, but with cording to Pablo Moreno, general man-
been inverted, and currently certain activities, a level of skilled human intervention is necessary to maintain ager.
our portfolio consists of 60% quality control and ensure safety. Moreno spoke about the company’s lab-
juniors and 40% producers. oratory, designed to carry out the analy-
Considering the current context where the movement of people is restricted, sis of materials, such as polymeric sludge
what is AK Drilling’s strategy for staying close to its customers in the next systems: “The tests we perform measure
12 months? the rheological properties of the fluids,
I actually think this has been strengthened during the pandemic. We are constantly which allows clients to optimize results
in contact with clients, on the phone or via video calls. A big part of this is trust in their drilling projects. There are many
that has been built up over years, and favoring long-term relationships over spot parameters to assess when testing, in-
contracts. It is important to stay close to a diverse range of clients where straight- cluding the quality of the water used for
forward interactions and transparency make a difference, especially in times where the sludge, analysing filtering capabili-
you cannot meet face to face. ■ ties, and other material characteristics.”■
128 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
130 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 131
EDITORIAL Global Business Reports Industry Explorations EDITORIAL
situation. The pandemic accelerated the our clients through platforms and apps. Laboratories
132 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 133
INTERVIEW Global Business Reports Industry Explorations INTERVIEW
Miguel Caillaux, What are the current trends you are observing for laboratory and metallurgical ser-
vices? Wilson
Luz Blancas MC: We are in the process of a technological upgrade of our labs, making investments in
more efficient equipment and new services. Certimin is achieving increasing recognition
Miranda In new mines that are due to
& Jonathan from national and transnational companies as one of the most complete companies in the
metallurgical field. Our services in the geochemical and environmental areas have also
been growing, where we are implementing automated equipment for different projects.
come online, especially Mina
Justa and Quellaveco, the
Campbell We are deeply committed to finding solutions that add value to our clients, so they can
carry out their operations as efficiently as possible.
large workforces required
LB: Since 2020, we have observed that, in addition to reliability and response capacity,
General Manager to run various aspects of
MC: Director the market is significantly valuing “service commitment and attention” as a fundamental CONFIPETROL ANDINA the operation also offer
LB: Business Development aspect of contribution to its operations and/or projects. As a result of Certimin leadership opportunities for third part
Manager factor we have received the trust of many major companies. service providers.
JC: Deputy General Manager
Can you tell us about some of the contracts Certimin has recently won?
CERTIMIN LB: In addition to the above services, Certimin concluded the start-up of an onsite labora-
tory in one of the most emblematic units of the mining sector due to its outstanding use
of seawater, allowing us to optimize the integration system of the processes in technical To what extent did the Covid-19 pandemic impact Confi- processes can take longer than in industries with less compa-
terms, operational commitment, objectivity and transparency as dictated by the ethical petrol Andina’s business in 2020? nies involved in the value chain. The petroleum industry suf-
and functional values of the policies of both parties. Confipetrol works in the mining, petroleum and energy sec- fered a lot in Q2 2020, but has rebounded and is now steady.
In terms of junior companies, we have a longterm business relationship with one of the tors, and these each had different contexts. The petroleum Confipetrol works more with the petroleum industry in Colom-
main lithium and uranium mining companies that has recently confirmed the start of new sector was considered essential and we managed to maintain bia, and more with the mining industry in Peru. Both industries
large-scale operations of their drilling program. In the same way, there are other well- a large percentage of work in this segment, but many mining share high safety standards.
known companies that are expanding their portfolios and with which we have already operations were not initially considered essential. Fortunately
MC established our participation from our office in Juliaca. Certimin is the only laboratory today (January 2021), we are back to a higher percentage of Which markets do you see as having high potential for
located in Puno, which we maintain to further contribute to projects in the region. working capacity, but social distancing measures make it dif- growth for Confipetrol?
MC: We have managed to reduce the response time of the geochemical analyzes with the ficult to achieve pre-Covid levels. While sales and profit were The south of Peru holds a lot of potential, with companies such
technological developments and process improvements carried out. We are considered down between 10 to 15% in 2020, we expect to grow between as Cerro Verde. In new mines that are due to come online,
a specialized or “boutique” lab, in the sense that we adapt to the requirements of each 10 and 20% in 2021, while maintaining the highest safety and especially Mina Justa and Quellaveco, the large workforces
client and try to give them the best solution. sanitary measures. required to run various aspects of the operation also offer
opportunities for third part service providers. Looking further
Demand for labs has increased considerably due to high metals prices and explora- What are some of the main clients and mining projects Con- ahead, Buenaventura’s San Gabriel and the Yanacocha Sulfides
tion expenditure. How has Certimin dealt with this demand? fipetrol worked on in recent years? project are other important projects for Peru.
LB LB: In the first place, the commitment of our technical, operational, commercial and man- Nexa Resources is one of our biggest clients, and we have
agement team has been fundamental. Second, this year Certimin has acquired high-tech worked for them at Atacocha, El Porvenir, Cerro Lindo and the What do you think differentiates Confipetrol in the third
equipment to complement the equipment we already had with the aim of increasing the Cajamarca refinery. We have also worked on a plant mainte- part services space?
efficiency of our operations and processes. In fact, this is already showing its benefits in nance project for Yanacocha, as well as Marsa, Minsur, Chinal- With the exception of the pandemic year in 2020, Confipetrol
the operations that we are carrying out for our main clients and will allow us to reduce the co, Hudbay, Barrick, Antapaccay, Las Bambas, among others. Andina has grown 20% per year for four years. The main rea-
response time of geochemical tests for other clients as well. Our third part services include the operation and maintenance son behind this is our team and its dedication to offering the
of concentrator plants, open-pit equipment, fleet maintenance highest quality service supported in asset management, which
Can you explain the benefits of your association with Chile’s ECOMETRIC and and underground mine equipment, and taking care of these has helped us establish long term relationships with clients.
Australia´s GLENCORE TECHNOLOGY? concerns for mining companies means they can focus on their The other key factor is our safety standards and our behavior-
JC: Our alliance with ECOMETRIC allows us to develop environmental solutions that cu- core business. based management system to make sure that employees have
JC rrently do not exist in Peru, customizing them to our clients’ needs and taking advantage a proactive attitude with regard to safety that has resulted in
of their experience in the Chilean market. It allows us to offer services of online and con- What measures have you taken to prevent contagion? one of the lowest injury frequencies in the industry. Confipetrol
tinuous measurements for mining operations that are particularly important and that need Since the start of the pandemic we have implemented Plan has received the ISO 9001 certificate for quality, ISO 14001 for
We have evolved from a simple constant measurement. Covid, outlined by the Peruvian Labor Ministry. The use of PPE, environment and OSHAS 18001 for safety.
laboratory to a technological This year we will be installing the first Isamill in Peru for metallurgical laboratory tests. such as masks, is required at all times, as well as distancing
This equipment developed by GLENCORE TECHNOLOGY allows to reach fine granulom- and cleaning hands and anyone that feels unwell must report Why should a mining company choose Confipetrol as a
complex for development, as in etries, which broadens the spectrum for the study of metallurgical projects. At the same immediately to be tested. Distance between beds at mining long term partner?
addition to our lab services, we time, we will be implementing and certifying tests with Jameson cells, among others. camps has been increased and cleaning procedures have been We work with the same objectives as our clients and want mi-
now provide auditing services tightened. ning companies to see us as the main operation and mainte-
and services to improve mining What are Certimin’s priorities for 2021-2022? nance contractor that will solve your problems with the highest
LB: Certimin’s aim is to continue being a leader in the provision of services, incorporating What differences have you noticed between the responses quality standards, safety and environmentally friendly actions.
companies’ labs. technological advancements. We have evolved from a simple laboratory to a technologi- of the mining and petroleum industries to the crisis? We also work with and employ Peruvian professionals, which
cal complex for development, as in addition to our lab services, we now provide auditing Peru is a mining country with a lot of opportunities, but be- contributes to the development of local communities in the
services and services to improve mining companies’ labs. We are also entering the fields cause of the size of the mining industry here there are a lot of country and ensure the local value chain can support its mining
of plant diagnosis and improvement of mineral treatment plants. ■ regulations and authority involvement. Therefore, sometimes industry to the best capacity. ■
136 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 137
C O M PA N Y D I R E C T O RY Global Business Reports Industry Explorations C O M PA N Y D I R E C T O RY
3M CERRO DE PASCO
3m.com.pe pascoresources.com
ABB CERTIMIN
new.abb.com/south-america certimin.pe
ABSISA CHAKANA COPPER
www.absisa.com chakanacopper.com
ACEROS CHILCA CONFIPETROL
aceroschilca.com confipetrol.com
ACOINSA CUMMINS
acoinsa.com.pe www.cumminsperu.pe
AESA DENTONS
aesa.com.pe dentons.com
AIRTEC DIVEMOTOR
www.airtec.com.pe divemotor.com
AK DRILLING DSI
akdrillinginternational.com dsi-peru.com
AMC CONSULTANTS E29
amcconsultants.com www.e29copper.com
AMERICAN LITHIUM CORPORATION EBIZ
americanlithiumcorp.com www.ebiz.pe
AMPHOS 21 EFC
amphos21.com www.efc.com.pe
ANDDES ELYDAN
anddes.com elydan.eu/es
ANDRITZ ENGIE ENERGIA PERÚ
andritz.com engie-energia.pe
ANGLO AMERICAN EPIROC
peru.angloamerican.com epiroc.com.pe
APPIAN CAPITAL ADVISORY EY
appiancapitaladvisory.com ey.com/pe/es/home
ASTEC INC FAST PACK
www.astecindustries.com www.fastpack.com.pe/bkfatpack
ATLAS COPCO FERREYROS
atlascopco.com ferreyros.com.pe
AUSENCO FORTE MINERALS
ausenco.com forteminerals.com
AUSTIN ENGINEEERING FTI CONSULTING
austineng.com.au www.fticonsulting-latam.com
AVIS FUNDICIÓN CHILCA S.A.
avis.com.pe fucsa.pe
BEAR CREEK MINING G&G PERFORACIONES
bearcreekmining.com www.gygperforaciones.pe
BISA GEOTEC
bisa.com.pe www.geotec.com.pe/es
BOLSA DE VALORES DE LIMA (BVL) GOLD FIELDS
bvl.com.pe goldfields.com.pe
BOART LONGYEAR HOCHSCHILD MINING
www.boartlongyear.com/es hochschildmining.com
BOSCH REXROTH HUDBAY MINERALS
boschrexroth.com/es/pe/ hudbayminerals.com
BUENAVENTURA ICMM - Consejo Internacional de Minería y Metales
buenaventura.com www.icmm.com/es
BYRNECUT OFFSHORE IIMP – INSTITUTO DE INGENIEROS DE MINAS DEL PERÚ
byrnecutoffshore.com iimp.org.pe
CÁMARA DE COMERCIO CANADA-PERÚ INCIMMET
canadaperu.org incimmet.com
CALIDRA INDUSTRIAS MORVEN
www.calquipa.com industriasmorven.com
CAMINO MINERALS IPESA
caminominerals.com ipesa.com.pe
138 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 139
C O M PA N Y D I R E C T O RY Global Business Reports Industry Explorations C O M PA N Y D I R E C T O RY
JH FLETCHER PWC
jhfletcher.com www.pwc.pe/es
JRC INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN RESEMIN
www.jrcing.com.pe resemin.com
KLOHN CRIPPEN BERGER ROBOCON
klohn.pe robocon.pe
KOMATSU MITSUI MAQUINARIAS DEL PERU (KMMP) SANTA BARBARA CONSULTANTS
kmmp.com.pe santabarbaraconsultants.com
LARA EXPLORATION SANY PERÚ
www.laraexploration.com www.sanyperu.com
LAYHER SCANIA
layher.pe scania.com/pe
LINKMINERS SIEMENS
www.linkminers.com siemens.com/pe/es/home.html
MAGOTTEAUX SILVER X
www.magotteaux.com/es/node/317 www.silverx-mining.com
MARTIN ENGINEERING SITECH
martin-eng.pe sitech.com.pe
MASTER DRILLING SK RENTAL
www.masterdrilling.com/es/ skrental.com
MDH PERÚ SODEXO
www.mdh.com.pe www.sodexo.pe
METAL TÉCNICA SOMBRERO RESOURCES
metaltecnica.com.pe sombreroresources.com
METSO SNMPE – SOCIEDAD NACIONAL DE MINERÍA, PETRÓLEO Y ENERGÍA
metso.com snmpe.org.pe
MICROMINE SOUTHERN COPPER
micromine.com southernperu.com
MINING PLUS SOUTHERN PEAKS MINING
mining-plus.com southernpeaksmining.com
MINISTERIO DE ENERGÍA Y MINAS SRK CONSULTING
minem.gob.pe srk.com
MINSUR STANTEC
www.minsur.com stantec.com
MMG LAS BAMBAS STIERLIFT
lasbambas.com www.stierlift.pe
MONTALI STRACON
www.montali.com.pe stracon.com
NEWREST TECNOMINA
1 www.newrest.eu/es/pais/peru tecnomina.pe
NEXA RESOURCES TIER ONE SILVER
nexaresources.com www.tieronesilver.com
NORMET TMX GROUP
normet.com tmx.com
NOVAMERA TORSA
novamerainc.com torsaglobal.com
NUBIAN RESOURCES TUMI RAISE BORING
www.nubianr.com tumirb.com
OHL VICEVERSA CONSULTING
ohla-group.com viceversaconsulting.com
PEVOEX CONTRATISTAS VOLVO
pevoex.com.pe volvotrucks.pe
PODEROSA WEIR MINERALS
www.poderosa.com.pe global.weir/peru
POSADA WHC DEL PERÚ
posada.pe peru.weatherhaven.com
PPS WORLEY
www.perupipingspools.com www.worley.com/who-we-are/where-we-operate/latin-america/peru
ROBOCON Tipografía: Gotham HTF
PROEXPLO WSP
Color: Negro 100%
SHOTCRETE SOLUTIONS
Tipografía: Avenir Next
Color: Negro 60%
proexplo.com.pe wsp.com
Colores:
PUCARA GOLD ZYFRA
ROBOCON pucara.ca www.zyfra.com
C 0 M 99 Y 76 K 0 C 0 M 0 Y 0 K 100
Pantone 185c
SHOTCRETE SOLUTIONS
140 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations Global Business Reports PERU MINING 2021 141
CREDITS Global Business Reports
Thank You
GENERATING www.perumin.com
PROSPERITY
142 PERU MINING 2021 Industry Explorations FOR PERUVIANS