Peru plans to award a tender to develop the Michiquillay copper-gold-silver project on December 20, over a month later than planned, to give companies more time to study the property, the government said.
Companies now have until November 2 to pre-qualify to bid, investment promotion agency Proinversion said Monday. Previously the tender was due to be awarded November 16 and pre-qualification bids were due October 26.
"To date, more than 20 world-class companies have shown interest in taking part in the tender," the agency said. "This motivated Proinversion's board of directors to extend the deadline."
The extra month will also enable the agency to incorporate suggestions from seven workshops held with nearby communities, it said. Social conflicts have held up at least $20 billion in mining projects in Peru since 2011.
The 4,050 hectare project, located in the northern highland Cajamarca region, has resources totaling 1.16 million mt of 0.63% copper. The $2 billion project would initially process 80,000 mt/day of ore and produce 200,000 mt/year of copper.
Votorantim Metais unit Milpo withdrew from the project in February, citing a disagreement over royalties. Anglo American pulled out of Michiquillay at the end of 2014, citing unfavorable market conditions.
