Peru Plans New Mining Concession Rules as Chavimochic Contract Heads for November
PERU · MINING
Key Facts
—Rule rewrite: The Fujimori government asked Congress for 120-day legislative powers across 66 policy areas, including new rules for the granting, validity and expiry of mining concessions.
—Details deferred: The request states goals of legal certainty and faster private investment, but leaves the concrete replacement rules to future legislative decrees.
—Chavimochic date: Agriculture minister Marco Vinelli said Monday the construction contract for the irrigation project’s third stage should be signed in November, or at the latest in December.
—September milestone: A separate contract for a 3.5-kilometer siphon should be signed by 30 September, while the 50-kilometer mother canal remains with ProInversión.
—Project scale: Chavimochic III represents about US$750 million (roughly S/2.5 billion), 63,000 new hectares, 150,000 jobs and some US$2 billion (about S/6.7 billion) a year in added farm exports.
—Pipeline at stake: Peru holds a portfolio of 65 mining projects worth about US$63 billion (around S/211 billion), plus US$727 million (about S/2.4 billion) in exploration projects.
Peru mining concessions face their biggest rewrite in three decades as the government seeks special legislative powers, while a November signing date for the US$750 million Chavimochic contract tests Lima’s promise to unlock stalled investment.
What the Government Wants to Change
The executive branch has sent Congress a request for legislative powers covering 66 subject areas for 120 days, La República reported on 31 August. The mining block proposes updating the rules on the granting, validity and expiry of concessions and other enabling titles.
The stated purpose is to give investors legal certainty and to reactivate private investment. Yet the request does not spell out which procedures would disappear or which deadlines would shrink, leaving the substance to legislative decrees that would follow congressional approval.
Former energy and mines minister Carlos Herrera Descalzi told La República that a review is overdue, since much of the framework was built in the 1990s under different technological and social conditions. He warned, however, that a reform meant to create predictability could end up generating uncertainty if it is rushed.
Herrera Descalzi pointed to the annual validity fee of US$3 per hectare (about S/10) as one parameter worth revisiting, and said permitting requirements often delay projects and open doors to corruption. He also flagged small-scale mining, the MAPE law and the REINFO registry as the reform’s hardest files.
The 30-to-15-Year Fight Already in Congress
The executive’s move lands on top of a separate congressional initiative. The energy and mines committee has approved a bill that would cut the deadline to develop a concession from 30 years to 15 before it lapses.
Industry specialists say the math does not fit Peruvian reality. María Alejandra Ormeño of the Peruvian Institute of Economics notes that a mine takes about 40 years on average from exploration to production, and more than 60 years for copper.
Cerro Verde needed 60 years to enter operation, Antamina 76 and Quellaveco 83. About 60 percent of development time sits in exploration, which depends on environmental permits and social processes; in 2024, environmental impact studies took on average three times the legal 120-working-day deadline to win approval.
Perucámaras president Óscar Zapata called the committee proposal a juridical and economic setback, arguing that concessions are intangible assets on company balance sheets that anchor long-term planning. Analysts at Gérens add that rigid production deadlines would penalize the exploration phase and raise miners’ cost of capital in Peru.
Chavimochic Contract Set for November
Against this backdrop, the government is keen to show it can still close deals. Agriculture minister Marco Vinelli told Radio Nacional on Monday that the construction contract for the third stage of the Chavimochic irrigation project in La Libertad should be signed in November, or at the latest in December.
A separate piece is moving faster: Vinelli said the contract to build a 3.5-kilometer siphon should be signed by 30 September. The 50-kilometer mother canal, he noted, is in the hands of the private-investment agency ProInversión, though his ministry is tracking it.
The third stage is structured as a government-to-government contract with Canada, with the engineering firm Hatch acting as project manager. Total investment is estimated at about US$750 million (roughly S/2.5 billion at S/3.35 per US dollar, Ria’s 26 August rate).
Once complete, the project would bring 63,000 new hectares into production, improve irrigation on another 48,000, create some 150,000 jobs and lift agro-exports by more than US$2 billion (about S/6.7 billion) a year, according to official estimates.
What Is at Stake for the Investment Pipeline
Peru’s mining portfolio held by the SNMPE business association counts 65 projects worth about US$63 billion (around S/211 billion), plus an exploration portfolio of US$727 million (about S/2.4 billion). How the concession rules land will shape whether that pipeline advances or stalls.
The debate has a history. In May, Congress weighed making concessions revocable under a reinterpretation of Article 10 of the mining law, a fight we covered in our report on the revocability proposal and the US$63 billion pipeline.
Mining generated US$58.7 billion (about S/197 billion) of Peru’s record exports in 2025, as detailed in our coverage of Peru’s US$90 billion export year. That weight explains why every twist in the rules is watched far beyond the sector.
If Congress grants the powers, the executive will have 120 days to issue the decrees. Only then will companies learn the new conditions for obtaining and keeping a concession — and whether Peru’s next generation of mines moves forward on schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Peru want to change about mining concessions?
The government asked Congress for 120-day legislative powers to update rules on the granting, validity and expiry of mining concessions and other enabling titles. The concrete replacement rules would only appear in later legislative decrees.
When will the Chavimochic third-stage contract be signed?
Agriculture minister Marco Vinelli said on 31 August that the construction contract should be signed in November 2026, or at the latest in December. A separate contract for a 3.5-kilometer siphon is targeted for signature by 30 September.
How big is the Chavimochic III project?
The third stage represents about US$750 million (roughly S/2.5 billion) of investment. It would add 63,000 new hectares, improve 48,000 more, create about 150,000 jobs and add over US$2 billion (about S/6.7 billion) a year to farm exports.
Why do miners criticize the 15-year expiry proposal?
A congressional committee voted to cut the concession development deadline from 30 to 15 years. Economists counter that Peruvian mines take 40 years on average to reach production — Antamina needed 76 — so shorter deadlines would deter long-term investment.
Connected Coverage
Peru’s investment climate runs through this year’s biggest policy fights. Read our reports on the concession revocability debate, the record US$90 billion export year mining made possible and the El Niño emergency threatening farm exports.
Sources
La República · Gestión · Andina · Desde Adentro / IPE · MIDAGRI · SNMPE (Revista Minería y Energía)
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