On June 26, 2025, Peru’s mining sector sounded the alarm over the rapid expansion of informal and illegal mining, particularly in copper-rich regions. The president of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE) described this surge as the single biggest threat to Peru’s ability to fully harness its copper reserves. After maintaining a strong position among the world’s top copper producers, Peru has recently slipped to third place in global rankings, producing about 2.74 million tonnes in 2024. Industry leaders fear that if these trends continue unchecked, the country’s ambitions to reach over 3 million tonnes of copper production by the end of the decade could be seriously undermined.
A key factor fueling this phenomenon is the loophole in Peru’s REINFO registry, a temporary permit system intended to guide small-scale miners toward legalization. Instead, it has created opportunities for unregistered operators to masquerade as formalizing miners, often invading concessions held by large
companies. High global copper prices have intensified the problem, attracting criminal networks and triggering conflicts over control of mineral-rich areas. Major mining firms—including Southern Copper, MMG, First Quantum, and Teck—have reported increasing incidents of trespassing, sabotage, and environmental damage within their concessions as informal operations proliferate.
This encroachment is having cascading effects on Peru’s investment climate. Legal uncertainty, security concerns, and social tensions are discouraging investors and threatening billions of dollars in planned copper projects needed to sustain economic growth and tax revenues. The government is under mounting
pressure to revise the REINFO framework, enforce stricter controls, and speed up genuine formalization processes. However, any solution must balance enforcement with the economic dependence of rural communities on small-scale mining, making this one of the most complex policy challenges facing Peru’s extractive sector today.