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Interview: Gerdau puts brakes on $1.4 billion Peru steel project

CEO André Gerdau of the Brazilian steel giant Gerdau. A majority owner of Sider-Peru, Gerdau is considering starting iron production in Peru in order to supply its iron and steel plant in Chimbote.

By Augusto Townsend, El Comercio
Translated by Lucia Subauste

The Gerdau group is one of the largest iron and steel producers in the world. In 2006 it entered Peru by acquiring most of the shares of the former state company Sider-Peru. After this acquisition, Gerdau announced a major investment of $1.4 billion, which was recently cancelled due to current market conditions.

Recently, André Gerdau, CEO of the company, had a meeting with president Alan García to discuss this issue along with Hermann von Mühlenbrock, CEO of Sider-Peru. Both Gerdau and Von Mühlenbrock later sat down in an exclusive interview with El Comercio.

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GM of SN Power predicts "imminent supply shortages" in Peru

By Manuel Marticorena, El Comercio
Translated by Lucia Subauste

Cheves, located between the provinces of Huaura and Oyon in Lima, is a hydroelectric project that is currently at the construction phase.

Alejandro Ormeño, general manager of the Swedish-owned SN Power Peru, the company in charge of the project, believes that the lack of this type of investment reflects Peru’s artificially low electricity prices. With the honesty that characterizes him, Ormeño tells it like it is, regarding the situation within the power sector that very few want to discuss.

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CEO of Gold Fields: "Peru is Competing for investment"

By Manuel Marticorena Solís, El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

The CEO of Gold Fields La Cima, José Luis Kruger, is one of the busiest executives in the mining sector. He is the President of Expomina this year, which brings together key mining suppliers. His opinion regarding mining in Peru is one that should always be listened to.

The mining sector is in a very favorable situation. Will this be sustainable in the coming years?
This is a very positive and promising moment, but the best part is that we have a lot of projects in our portfolio that will soon start being built, which makes the industry go through a very interesting time. We have at least ten world-class mining projects in gold and copper such as Michiquillay, Galeno, Minas Conga and La Granja, which will make Peru the main copper producer in the world as soon as they start operating.

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Peru: World's top silver producer, but what about adding value?

By Beatrice Ciabatti
Originally published in El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

Here is a contradictory fact: Peru is the largest producer of silver in the world and yet only one percent of this production remains in the country to create value-added items. Our craftsmen have the ability to produce jewelry and silverware, but the local industry related to silver jewelry and silverware is currently a micro-industry, while still having great potential for development and for providing employment.

The art of working with silver has been one of Peru’s characteristics since ancient times. The silverworking techniques have been passed from parents to children from pre-Inca cultures, which is why this craft spreads a fundamental part of the identity and artistic heritage of Peru.

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Gas pipeline project in Peru gets new $3 billion price tag

By Manuel Marticorena Solís, El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

Last week, Kuntur, the company that will build the gas pipeline in southern Peru, doubled the amount of investment in this project: The estimate more than doubled to $2.8-$3 billion, from initial estimates of $1.35 billion.

According to Alejandro Segret, general manager of Kuntur, the expansion of investment in this infrastructure is due to the addition of a second pipeline project that will transport liquids from Lot 58, owned by Petrobras.

Kuntur, financed by New York-based Conduit Partners, just presented its environmental impact assessment to the Ministry of Energy and Mines after organizing over a hundred public hearings to let those affected by this infrastructure know more about the project.

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Upcoming president of Antamina talks about mining in Peru

By Manuel Marticorena Solís, El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

Abraham Chahuán may be one of the most envied mining executives, not only for his managing skill, but for making Minera Milpo a first class company (he is the current manager). Chahuán will face a much greater challenge in December: He will be the president of Antamina, one of the biggest copper operations in Peru.

He is also preparing the First International Mining Management Congress, which will take place September 20 and 22 at the Sheraton Hotel in Lima. Crucial issues for the mining sector will be discussed there.

In this interview, Chahuán talks about the future of mining in Peru and the upcoming presidential elections. 

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Mining stocks in Peru are undervalued in long term, say analysts

LivinginPeru.com

Analysts in Peru signal that mining stocks may be undervalued, and several stocks in particular have strong buy recommendations, reports the business daily Gestion.

Inteligo, the brokerage arm of Interbank, predicts that four listed companies have the potential to gain 21 percent in the long run: Minsur I, Vocan B, Southern Copper and Cerro Verde. However, Gustavo Urrutia, Inteligo’s chief analyst, warns that mining stocks are not for those looking to get in and out quickly.

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Peru has become a worldwide gold powerhouse. What does the future hold?

By Luis Jaime Cisneros H., Somos
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

Gold has been a constant in Peru’s history. From the famous room that the Inca Atahualpa filled with gold to try (unsuccessfully) to save his life, to the Golden Bear that Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa won in the Berlin International film Festival in 2009. At the end of the first decade of the XXI century, Peru’s gold production represents 7% of the world’s total.

The Ninth International Gold Symposium, held May 18-20 at the Swissôtel in Lima, Peru, brought together thousands of experts in precious metals.

It was a bullish time to meet: On May 14 the ounce of gold rose to US $1,250 on the London Buillon Market.

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President of Peru's Gold Symposium talks about future of mining and social conflicts

By Álvaro Gastañaduí Ramírez, El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

The ninth Gold Symposium, organized by the National Mining, Petroleum and Energy Society, is taking place between the May 18 and 20 in Lima. Businessmen, researchers and investors are analyzing the future of gold mining in Peru. The president of the event José Miguel Morales, is convinced that mining is the main motor of economy and that social conflicts surrounding mining projects. Here Morales talks about gold and Peru's economy.

Why organize a gold symposium?
Because in 2009, Peru’s main export was gold. In total, we exported US $26.9 billion, out of which $16.4 billion was from mining and $6.8 billion from gold alone. Copper reached $5 billion...

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Digging for gold at La Arena: Interview with Alex Black of Rio Alto Mining

Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

La Arena is the 1,000-hectare gold and copper project that Rio Alto Mining intends to build in two phases. The first stage will mine 39 million tons of oxides of gold, which they would start producing by 2011. The second stage involves 184 million tons of copper sulfide, molybdenum and gold.

Alex Black, Director and Chief Operations Officer of Rio Alto Mining and Jaime Soldi, General Manager of Rio Alto SAC, commented on their development strategy and present their other projects within their concession (another 20,000 hectares).

Do you think the ore grade and resources that you have been studying will increase?

Alex Black: This week, independent consultants at Coffey Mining will review and update the information that has already been gathered to prepare new reserves. We do not expect surprises; we have 40 million tons of oxides with average ore grade of 0.6 grams.
Jaime Soldi: It is what was said from the beginning. The only way to know if it will change is when we start producing.

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