Ascent Resources plc said it would focus its environment, social and governance (ESG) projects on secondary mining and recovery in Peru.
JOINT VENTURE
The company has signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Lima-based investment manager Blanco Safi SAC to identify and develop precious and base metal-rich tailing and processing operations.
Founded in 2010, Blanco’s has more than 30 years experience in the banking, finance, mine and resource sectors.
The JV already had a number of attractive prospective leads, as well as an active network in the small and medium scale miner sector of Peru.
Ascent said it aimed to recover and reclassify surface stockpiled mining waste for processing / reprocessing before sale to off-takers and/or other third-party buyers.
It also continued to evaluate a number of ESG metal transactions across Latin and Hispanic America.
“Peru is widely recognised as one of the largest and most diversified mineral producers with some of the most extensive reserves in the world with mining the most important sector in the Peruvian economy (some 10% of national GDP),” added Ascent in a statement.
“Peru is currently the world’s second largest copper and silver producer and Latin America’s largest gold, zinc, tin and lead producer.”
SMALL SCALE
The company said that the Peruvian government had extended the formalisation process of artisanal miners to 31 December 2024 alongside establishing a national policy for small-scale and artisanal mining.
The JV expects to focus on small-scale operations (up to 350 tpd) of an “efficient operational scale and which have multiple local tax and permitting benefits”, added Ascent.