Peru cracks down on illegal gold mining and launches $264 million World Bank reform for mining sector

Peruvian authorities dismantled illegal gold‑mining camps in the Madre de Dios region, seizing equipment, fuel and other assets valued at roughly S/ 64.5 million. The operations, carried out by the National Police’s environmental directorate under Legislative Decree No. 1100, targeted sites both inside and outside the protected Tambopata National Reserve.

In parallel, the Peruvian government and the World Bank unveiled a five‑year, US$ 264 million program to overhaul the country’s mining administration. The plan will digitise all mining permits through a single‑window system, fund technical support for small‑scale miners, and finance advanced geoscientific surveys, a national lithotheque and the first Peruvian geochronology laboratory. Officials say the reforms aim to boost investment predictability and help double copper production by 2050.