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Peru’s Parties Skirt Illegal Mining in 2026 Plans as Lawmaker Advancing Mining Code Reports Threats

Fresh estimates put illicit mining at up to $11.5 billion a year, prompting calls for traceability with specialized enforcement.

Overview

  • A new review by the Observatorio de Minería Ilegal finds only 12 of 36 parties offer concrete measures, 13 offer declarative ideas, and 11 present no proposals at all.
  • Renovación Popular, leading in some polls, is cited in the review for lacking substantive policies on illegal mining in its official plan.
  • Congresswoman Diana Gonzales says she has received threats tied to her efforts and outlines a proposed Mining Code to formalize about 30,000 informal miners with full mineral traceability, including processing plants.
  • Analysts say the Reinfo registry became a loophole that enabled impunity, highlighting production‑export gaps in gold data and reinforcing the push for interoperable traceability systems.
  • Policy recommendations stress a real registry of gold traders and processors, cleaner technologies, specialized police and prosecutorial units, and resources for environmental prosecutors, which one expert notes currently have no budget.