Boom in mining petitions in Peru raises questions about who is behind them

Peru is seeing renewed interest in mining areas whose rights were declared extinguished, at a time when concerns are growing over illegal mining and regulatory uncertainty in the sector.

The phenomenon became evident during the second annual session organized by the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (Ingemmet), where 1,881 petitions were submitted for 1,265 areas with expired, abandoned, relinquished or rejected rights. The figure is double what was recorded in the first session of the year and far exceeds initial expectations.

Among the regions with the highest demand, Arequipa, La Libertad, Puno, and Cusco stood out, territories that coincide with hotspots of operations against the illegal extraction of minerals.

In 2026 alone, 401 interventions were carried out against illegal mining in different areas of the country, including precisely those four regions, which highlights the overlap between areas of formal interest and spaces dominated by informal economies.

The official information does not break down the profile of the petitioners, which raises concerns about who might be behind the requests.

“I fear that most of the applications were submitted by small-scale miners and could even have been filed by informal or illegal miners, which means that the numbers will not necessarily translate into greater exploration or benefits for the country,” warned Carlos Gálvez, former president of the Sociedad Nacional de Minería, Petróleo y Energía, in comments to BNamericas.

The context is complex: illegal mining in Peru moves more than US$12 billion (bn) a year, subtracts up to 12% from the economy's potential growth, and erodes the country's competitiveness as an investment destination.

In 2025, around 11,000 applications were registered nationwide, an interannual increase of 43%, while Ingemmet granted about 5,100 concession titles.

This growth is occurring in parallel with regulatory uncertainty. In March 2026, the Congress Energy and Mines Commission approved reducing the maximum term of concessions without productive activity from 30 to 15 years.

The measure, still pending a decision in the plenary, could have a direct impact on greenfield exploration by shortening evaluation times and forcing the abandonment of areas with potential that have not completed their technical maturation.

During proEXPLO 2026, the president of Ingemmet warned that modifying deadlines or rules on concessions would affect the predictability required for long-term investments.

Along the same lines, Gustavo De Vinatea, general manager of the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas del Perú (IIMP), stated that the amendments lack technical basis and would end up favoring illegal mining to the detriment of formal investment.

“The ones who benefit from these changes are those who have no intention of investing, the illegal operators who pay no taxes or royalties and exploit resources without caring for the environment,” he stated.

The dynamics reveal a paradox: while interest in extinguished areas is growing, the threat persists that some of these applications may come from informal actors.

Added to this is the pressure of regulatory changes that could weaken legal certainty and create room for illicit economies.

Peru faces the challenge of proving that it can turn renewed interest in concessions into legitimate, sustainable investment, so that the advance of illegal mining does not end up neutralizing its expectations of competitiveness in the global metals market.

(The original version of this content was written in Spanish)