• This was stated by Frank Arana Vichino, general manager of Ponderosa Minerals, in his presentation on the situation and prospects of small-scale mining in Ancash.

Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) is a part of the mining sector that continues to generating a series of diagnostics aimed mainly at increasing the number of formalized operators.

Thus, on the first day of the "Territorial Development and Mining in Ancash" event - developed by Rumbo a PERUMIN - Frank Arana Vichino, general manager of Ponderosa Minerals, made an analysis of the situation and perspectives of this group of miners.

He first revealed that of the 4,636 artisanal and small-scale miners (either individuals or companies) in this region that were registered in the Integral Mining Formalization Registry (REINFO), 3,754 lost their registration and only 882 have been considered as valid in REINFO.

"In the end, a total of 23 artisanal and small-scale miners have been formalized, which accounts for 2.6% of those registered and in force in REINFO and only 0.5% of those who started the process," he said.

Explanation

The speaker considered that one reason which hindered the formalization of ASM is the current political instability, specifically the changes in the Regional Directorate of Energy and Mines (DREM) in Ancash.

"For example, in the Regional Directorate of Energy and Mines (DREM), we had 4 directors in the past year and a half. Hence, with this director and staff turnover level, it is not possible to finish reviewing the documents," he explained.

He also pointed out that two other causes are that MINEM's mining formalization process is far from understanding the current reality out in the field, and that the DREMs do not have sufficient budget or personnel.

"We must realize that existing legislation does not facilitate formalization, nor does it promote it," Frank Arana stressed.

He also pointed out that artisanal miners are required to comply with requirements as if they belonged to the Small Scale, while miners of this group must comply with the legislation of the general regime.

Recommendations

During his participation in the "Impact and Potential of Mining in Ancash" session, the executive of Ponderosa Minerals shared his proposals to remedy the situation.

One of them was that formalization should be simpler and with a greater focus on monitoring and subsequent inspection.