LIMA: Peru’s copper miners hope to increase output in 2023 after recovering from the impact of major protests at the start of the year, industry executives said, despite simmering anti-government anger in the world’s no. 2 producer of the red metal.
The South American country saw a number of key mines reduce or temporarily halt production in January and February during the deadliest protests that have hit Peru in over 20 years, with the worst violence in the copper-rich Andean south.
However, protests and blockades that snarled transport to and from mines have largely been lifted, despite ongoing public anger since the dramatic ouster late last year of leftist leader Pedro Castillo. Voters are still pushing for snap elections.
“The southern (mining) corridor is operating normally, all the inventories of concentrates that the mines had are been sent to the coast,” said Víctor Gobitz, president of mining sector body SNMPE and chief executive of Peru’s top mine Antamina.
Power data from Peru’s private power sector body COES, analyzed by Reuters, shows activity at Peru’s top mines has stabilized since early March following the disruptions earlier this year, which stalled production and shipments.
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