Peru Copper Mining Recovers from COVID19

Copper mining in Peru, the world’s No 2 producer, is almost completely recovered from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Peru’s vice minister of energy and mines Jaime Galvez said “Peru’s copper production, however, fell 2.2% in July, compared with the same period a year earlier, to 198,796 tonnes, under the weight of the pandemic, which restricted mining.” The Peruvian government decreed quarantine due to the coronavirus in mid-March, with special restrictions on mining activity. The industry, a key economic engine for the Andean country, began to gradually normalize operations in May. Earlier in August, the government said production of the red metal plunged 20.4% in the first half of 2020 versus the same period in 2019.