Latin American Governments Seek Mining Investments at PDAC

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Officials from the Brazilian, Argentine and Peruvian governments traveled to the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) earlier this week to attract interest in their mining industries. This event gathers the world's largest mining companies and investors to promote business in the sector.

With the transition to cleaner energies, the extraction of critical minerals such as lithium and copper is reaching new highs. Latin America stands to benefit from the boost in demand, given its large deposits of critical minerals.

According to Industrial Info, Latin America could see close to US$74 billion in investments across 593 projects under development, including those with a medium-to-high likelihood of beginning construction in 2024 and those already under construction.

More importantly, according to Industrial Info's data, Chile, Brazil and Argentina are in the top 10 countries for mining activity in 2024, with a combined 430 mining developments accounting for more than US$40 billion.

PDAC offers Latin American governments the opportunity to promote those projects, incentivize investments, and develop their industry. "We have great natural potential, a diversity of clean energy matrices, qualified labor, and a window of opportunities to leverage the value-adding sector," said Brazilian minister Alexandre Silveira during the event. "With this guide, we want to attract investments and partnerships to Brazil."

Moreover, "Brazil has a favorable scenario. If other countries are truly committed to the energy transition, they must invest in Brazil and in the chain of transformation of strategic minerals for energy transition, thinking, among other objectives, in the manufacture of batteries for electric cars," said Rodrigo Cota, the director of Brazil's Department of Mineral Transformation and Technology.

Brazil is positioning itself as a renewable-energy powerhouse, through the deployment and construction of a new renewable energy matrix, and by encouraging investments in the extraction of critical minerals to manufacture that energy.

The Argentine minister of mines also will be in Canada to present the nation's prospects to investors. Prior to the PDAC, the government issued mining project portfolios for copper, gold, lithium, silver and other minerals to promote investments. The catalogs feature 22 copper, 25 gold, 37 lithium and seven silver projects across the country, and contain detailed information about each prospect.

Recently, Argentina emphasized the development of copper projects, given the global boost in demand due to the transition to cleaner energies. Currently, Argentina does not have active copper production, though the Josemaria project is under construction. In addition to copper, lithium has attracted significant attention, with three mines in production and five under construction.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can click here for a list of detailed reports for projects related to the Josemaria project, and click here for a detailed plant profile.

Peru's minister of mines also spoke to local news channels about his visit to PDAC. According to Peruvian newspapers, the minister highlighted during his presentation that this year, Peru's mining portfolio comprises 51 projects amounting to US$54.5 billion, with copper developments representing US$39 billion.

To speed up mining prospects, last year, Peru implemented the "Ventanilla Unica," an online platform aimed at centralizing and digitizing paperwork surrounding mining developments. The country expects to speed up developments and attract more investments by reducing waiting time and bureaucracy.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).