Peru Mining: Junior Miners and METS Opportunities

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The Peruvian Mining Sector is the backbone of the national economy, and by virtue of this, there is overwhelming Governmental support at Local, Regional and National Level for the sector; this creates a positive investment climate for foreign mining companies.

Significant investment in recent years has seen a increases in Copper, Gold and Base Metals production in Peru, turning the mining sector into the growth engine of the country. Growth within the sector has occurred due to the completion of a number of mega projects such as the USD$ 7.4 billion Las Bambas project, but also due to growth in the Junior Mining Sector. The size and scope of growth experienced within the Junior Mining Sector is in many unprecedented and can in at least in-part be attributed to the permitting system in place within Peru.

Whereby the Ministry of Energy and Mines has granted the Regional Directorate of Energy and Mines (I.e Provincial Level) the authority to approve Small Scale Miners (PPM), through a process that is relatively expedient (typically varies between 18 and 24 months), is more economical and requires a lower threshold of studies / supporting documentation. For this to occur a project must not exceed 2,000 hectares, and not have a maximum installed production and/or processing capacity of greater then 350 metric tons per day (for metallic production) or 1,200 tons per day (for non-metallic production). This system has resulted in an influx of Junior Foreign owned mining companies (many ASX and TSX.V) looking to either establish small operating mines (especially within the Gold Sector) and/or establishing processing facilities and acquiring feed stock from local miners (I.e Toll washing).

On the back of this the “toll washing” model has become an attractive business model, often emulated by new players and well hyped within the markets (both ASX and TSX), some current/ former industry players are:

– Minera Gold

– Standard Tolling Corp.

– Dynacor

– Anthem United Inc

– Montan Mining

– Inca Gold

Either mining direct and/or toll washing provides the opportunity for a Junior mining company to enter the market and to produce on-going cash flows in order to support company operations. Although the toll washing market is becoming more crowded, it remains a ray of hope for companies that have been unable to find a project worth exploring and/or been unable to raise funding in order to undertake exploration. On the back of this explosion within the Peruvian Junior Mining Sector there is significant opportunity for Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) Companies that are able to provide systems, procedures and/or equipment that are able to support this business model. Notable, at present many of the processing facilities in use within Peru are locally manufactured, with less then desirable recovery rates and poor availability. Hence some specific opportunities include:

– Provision of Metallurgical Consulting services

– Provision of Consulting on Small Scale Mine Planning and Production

– Supply and Support of Small Gold Processing Plants (up to 350 tons per day)

– Provision of Equipment Health Monitoring Systems

– Other General Support systems for Small Scale Operations.

The Peruvian mining sector is truly the lifeblood of the Peruvian economy, as such a lot of Governmental effort has gone into developing a legal framework / system that supports foreign investment, in-turn this has created an opportunity for Junior Foreign owned mining companies and METS within the market place.

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Source by Craig Dempsey