Peru has a very vibrant mining industry. It is one of the world's top producers of copper, gold and silver and with potential riches in lithium, the necessary material to power batteries. The main mining companies are from the US, Canada and China.
Natural resources present both an opportunity and a challenge for development and also governance. First, it is an opportunity for the country to get urgently needed revenues that can support the building of infrastructure and the distribution of public services, including education and health, which in light of the COVID-19 pandemic is now more urgent than ever. But it is also a challenge for Peru to collect, administer, and manage the revenue from natural resources to ensure that it does not fuel corruption or social conflicts within the country. Moreover if the benefits of development of natural resources are not shared with society, especially with the people living in the areas of natural resource exploitation, social conflicts invariably result and have resulted, which are now intensified by COVID-19. Two of the largest mining projects in the world, including the Tia Maria project in the south of Peru and the Cajamarca project in the north of Peru, have literally been stopped because of social opposition.
But on a positive note, Peru has also developed a progressive framework, Mining Vision 2030, which has established principles and parameters of how to develop the mining sector in a win-win way for all stakeholders, including communities as well as companies. The Mining Vision has set the framework on how to achieve community acceptance of mining development through Consulta Previa, informed prior consent, (social license), which by necessity also needs to provide concrete tangible benefits to the impacted communities. And the person who created and drafted the Mining Vision 2030 is now the new Minister of Energy and Mines, the client for the Capstone and seeking support on how to implement it.
Peru, based on its mining development, has made rapid economic progress, but this progress has now slowed or plateaued for a number of reasons, including COVID-19, but especially because of the lack of community acceptance of mining development and the resultant conflicts. Further COVID-19 has impacted the health of miners and natural resource communities.
2021 Relevant Stakeholder Analysis