The 12th international Gold and Silver Symposium opened in Lima today with a keynote speech on the outlook for the global economy by Tim Harford, economics leader writer for the Financial Times.
The symposium, held every two years and organized by Peru’s National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy, brings together close to 1,000 people including mining executives, institutional investors, analysts and journalists from some 24 countries. All events and activities are being held at the Westin Hotel in San Isidro’s financial center.
Speakers and round table debaters at the two-day event this year include Roque Benavides, CEO of Minas Buenaventura; Kelvin Dushnisky, president of Barrick Gold; Nelson Pizarro, president of Chile’s Codelco; Michael Steinmann, CEO of Panamerican Silver; Mark Brennan of Sierra Metals; Aram Shishmanian, CEO of the World Gold Council; David Gleit of Volcan Compañía Minera; Jeffrey D. Rhodes, CEO of Zee Gold DMCC; and analysts and directors from the InterAmerican Development Bank, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan.
The second day includes round tables on the vision for Peru’s future in education, values and ethics, and institutionality, followed by a final round table on the outlook for mining opportunities in Peru.
Mining faces difficult times in Peru at present, with lower minerals prices, and social conflicts frequently resulting from poorly managed situations. In April, Roque Benavides, CEO of Minas Buenaventura which co-owns the Yanacocha gold mining company with Newmont, said that the huge Conga project in Cajamarca is no longer considered viable. Yanacocha has so far invested $1.5 billion in the project but a social conflict over water access was poorly handled by both the mining company and the government, and resulted in strong local support for politicians and leaders opposed to the project.
