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Latin American mining risks have disrupted more than $54B in projects
Americas Market Intelligence estimates $38.0B of the impact came from documented losses, with about $16.0B tied up in delayed or halted projects, including $7.0B in Peruvian copper projects.
Mining.com reports that permitting delays, social conflict, and security threats have increasingly shaped capital deployment across Latin America’s mining sector, with those risks costing or stalling more than $54 billion in activity since 2018. According to estimates cited by Mining.com, Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) attributed about $38 billion to write-offs, legal settlements, fines, and other documented losses. A further $16 billion is described as capital frozen in delayed or halted projects, including about $7 billion in Peruvian copper projects and $4 billion across three Mexico projects stalled by permitting problems.
Mining.com also notes that AMI co-director Sebastián Pérez-Ferreiro said those disruptions show how permitting, community conflict, and security conditions can determine whether regional mineral wealth turns into producing mines.
Mining.com adds that Plusmining Consulting’s Juan Carlos Guajardo cautioned against treating the $54 billion estimate as a single measure of disruption, emphasizing the need to distinguish losses already incurred from capital tied up in projects that are merely delayed.
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