Troubled Peru copper mine starts expansion work in supply boost

China’s MMG is hopeful it can start digging copper from a new pit at its giant Las Bambas project in Peru by the end of this year, bringing some much-needed extra supply to a tightening global market.

Las Bambas has for years operated well below its annual capacity of 400 000 t due to a torrent of community protests that have disrupted mining and set back an expansion. That level could be reached in 2025, according to Troy Hey, an executive general manager at MMG.