Starting in the second quarter of 2012, the Peruvian Government will put out to tender the Arena Seca project in Tambogrande (Piura); the Huayday Ambara prospect (La Libertad); the remaining concessions of the Michiquillay project, and a copper refinery project in Sechura (Piura), MinerAndina.e reports. These projects all in the north of Peru and are to be found on the website of the Peruvian Private Investment Promotion Agency – ProInversion.
These four projects are part of the global portfolio of 49 projects entrusted by the Peruvian Government to ProInversion, to be put out to tender among the various economic sectors with an estimated investment of $6,678
million. No definite amounts have as yet been fixed for the mining projects, which are currently undergoing economic evaluation. Nevertheless, ProInversion has emphasised their importance since most of them are properties with significant mineral resources and considerable potential for exploration.
The Arena Seca project in Tambogrande comprises remnants of the Tambogrande Project, abandoned in 2003 by Canadian junior mining company Manhattan Minerals in the aftermath of a turbulent social conflict. News
this was the first mining project in Peru to be paralysed by a popular referendum and the direct action of
environmental NGOs spread qucikly around the world.
Arena Seca encompasses 10,000 ha, of which 2,700 ha shall be granted under concession in a first stage. ProInversion stresses that only in one of the concessions, Arena Seca 3 (1,000 ha) the existence of 110 Mt of massive sulphides @ 0.7% Cu, 1% Zn, 0.7 g/t Au and 19 g/t Ag in resources has been confirmed. The project is located in the Tambogrande District, at the Locuto peasant community, Province of Piura, in the Piura Region, 100 km away from the Paita port.
Huayday Ambara (3,000 ha) is described by ProInversion as a coal prospect with potential for gold exploration within its area of influence – very similar to Lagunas Norte, formerly Alto Chicama. It has a geological potential of 2,299,500 Mt, out of which 1,227,000 MT (53%) are Inferred resources.
The prospect could produce an estimated 66,000 t/y of clean anthracite which, owing to its high calorific value, could be used in steel making, cement plants and foundries. The minimum life of the mine is 20 years.
The Michiquillay Remnants Project (14,927 ha) comprises the concessions adjacent to the Michiquillay project developed in the Encañada District, in Cajamarca, by Anglo American. It hosts more than 12,000 t of limestone reserves with economic viability to generate an average production of 500-600 t/d of limestone and 200 t/d of
quicklime. ProInversion says “the prospect would also enable exploration for copper and gold”.
With the proposed copper refinery in Sechura, the aim sought by ProInversion is to take advantage of copper supplies originating from the large copper projects in the Cajamarca region: Galeno, developed by the China
Minmetals Jiangxi Copper joint venture; La Granja, in the charge of Rio Tinto; Michiquillay, managed by Anglo American and Conga, Minera Yanacocha’s gold-copper project.
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If this is built, it would be the first copper refinery in the north of Peru. The two other refineries are Doe Run Peru’s La Oroya Metallurgic Complex (currently shut down), in the Peruvian central highlands, and Southern Peru´s Ilo Refinery in the south.
