Mining claim requests fall 7.05% in Mar.

The number of applications for mining claims in Peru remained sluggish in March 2005, falling 7.05% to 303 compared to same-month last year, the country's national concessions and mining registry institute Inacc reported. In the first three months of the year, requests for mining claims have fallen 3.84% to 1,041 compared to same-period 2004. Interest this year is currently focused on central Lima department, with 150 requests in the January-March period, followed by Puno in southern Peru with 139 and Ancash in west-central Peru with 102. Peru has a total of 24,016 mining claims currently valid covering over 9.65 million hectares focused on Arequipa department (2,500 claims), La Libertad in northern Peru (2,386) and Junin in central Peru (2,248). In 2004 requests for mining claims rose 6.9% to 5,130 in Peru, where exploration gathered steam as metal prices lifted after years of weak markets.