Adds Q1 copper production, quotes and context on illegal gold mining, context on 2024 mining investment

By Marco Aquino

LIMA, June 3 (Reuters) - Copper output in Peru, the world's third-biggest producer, is expected to grow slightly to 2.8 million metric tons this year, while mining investment is forecast to reach at least $4.8 billion, the country's top mining official said on Tuesday.

Peru produced about 2.7 million tons of copper in 2024 and attracted $4.96 billion of investment in the key mining sector.

Officials are also increasingly focused on illegal gold mining, following the killing of 13 mine workers in the gold-rich region of Pataz in northern Peru, Mines and Energy Minister Jorge Montero told a press conference.

In recent weeks, army troops and police have destroyed illegal mines and tunnels in the region, but Montero said the zone remained dangerous and high gold prices were spurring on illegal activity.

"This is a long-term battle," he said. "With gold prices above $3,000, there is a huge incentive for illegal mining."

The crackdown in Pataz means illegal gold mining appears to be moving into other areas, he said, such as the Cordillera del Condor mountain range at the border with Ecuador.

Peru's gold exports amounted to $15.5 billion in 2024, up from $11 billion the prior year. Around 40% of Peru's gold exports are estimated to come from illegal sources, according to industry data and Peru's financial regulator.

Montero said there was also an uptick in informal and illegal copper mining in the Apurimac and Arequipa regions of southern Peru, although he said it remained a very small amount of the country's total output.

Top copper mine Las Bambas, controlled by miner MMG 1208.HK, is located in Apurimac, while Canadian miner Teck TECKb.TO is developing the Zafranal copper project in Arequipa in partnership with Mitsubishi Materials 5711.T.

In recent years, artisanal copper mining has created much-needed income for impoverished Andean Peruvians, despite bringing them into conflict with major miners.

Copper production from formal miners in the first quarter of 2025 reached 660,000 tons, nearly 4% more than the same period the year before, Montero said.

More than $1 billion has already been spent in the January to March period in the mining sector, and further investments are expected to fund mine expansions, exploration and equipment.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sarah Morland, Natalia Siniawski and Nia Williams)

((daina.solomon@thomsonreuters.com;))