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Mining, oil and gas in Peru: concessions, the annual fee, minimum production, the mining royalty and special tax, stability contracts, hydrocarbon licences and environmental certification

Last verified: 2026-10-28

In Peru all natural resources belong to the Nation, and private investors use them under concessions or contracts that give them a real right. A mining concession is property separate from the land and is kept alive by paying US$3 per hectare a year and reaching a minimum production level within ten years, or paying a rising penalty. Miners without a stability contract pay a quarterly royalty of 1 to 12 percent of operating profit (with a floor of 1 percent of sales) plus the Impuesto Especial a la Minería of 2 to 8.4 percent; both are deductible for income tax. Stability contracts lock in the tax regime for 10, 12 or 15 years for investments of US$20 million, US$100 million or US$500 million and up. Oil and gas are developed under licence or service contracts with PERUPETRO approved by supreme decree, with up to 30 years for oil and 40 for gas. No project may start without the environmental certification under Ley 27446.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026, from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. UIT based amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 set by Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited in SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026/SUNAT. The mining fee is set in US dollars and may be paid in soles. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Mining concession annual fee (Derecho de Vigencia), general regime	3.00 USD per hectare per yearTUO Ley General de Minería, DS 014-92-EM, art. 39, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Mining concession annual fee, small producers	1.00 USD per hectare per yearTUO Ley General de Minería, DS 014-92-EM, art. 39, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Minimum annual production for metallic concessions	1 UIT per hectare per yearTUO Ley General de Minería, DS 014-92-EM, art. 38, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Mining royalty marginal rates on quarterly operating profit	1 to 12 %Ley 28258 Annex, as amended by Ley 29788, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Mining royalty floor as a share of quarterly sales	1 %Ley 28258 art. 4.3, as amended by Ley 29788, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Impuesto Especial a la Minería marginal rates on quarterly operating profit	2 to 8.4 %Ley 29789 Annex, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Minimum investment programme for a 15 year mining stability contract	500000000 USDTUO Ley General de Minería art. 83-B (Ley 30230), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Minimum investment programme for a 10 year mining stability contract	20000000 USDTUO Ley General de Minería art. 79 (Ley 30230), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum term of an oil exploitation contract	30 yearsLey 26221 art. 22 b) 1, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum term of a non associated gas exploitation contract	40 yearsLey 26221 art. 22 b) 2, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum exploration phase of a hydrocarbon contract, before any exceptional extension	7 yearsLey 26221 art. 22 a), as amended by Ley 27377, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Natural resources, renewable and non renewable, are the heritage of the Nation, and the State is sovereign in their use. An organic law sets the conditions for their use and their grant to private parties, and a concession gives its holder a real right subject to that law. Separately, under art. 62, contract terms cannot be changed by later laws or other rules of any kind, which is the constitutional basis of the stability contracts in rule 5.
Cost to do it: No fee arises from the Constitution itself. The costs are those of the concession or contract regime for each resource, set out in the rules below.
Example: A Canadian group that wants a copper deposit in Arequipa does not buy the minerals from the landowner. It applies for a mining concession from the State and separately negotiates surface access with the owner of the land. / The same applies to a US$500 million project: the mineral right comes from the State as a concession, and surface rights, which are a separate property, must be bought or leased from the landowner.Constitución Política del Perú de 1993 (published 30 December 1993), Art. 66 and art. 62, 1993-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. A mining concession gives its holder the right to explore and exploit the minerals granted within a solid of indefinite depth bounded by UTM coordinates. It is immovable property distinct and separate from the land on which it lies. It is a real right, and it is irrevocable as long as the holder meets the obligations required to keep it in force. The basic unit is 100 hectares. The title alone does not authorise exploration or exploitation work: the MINEM annotated text notes that art. 37.3 of the Reglamento de Procedimientos Mineros (DS Nº 020-2020-EM) lists the authorisations needed before starting.
Cost to do it: The concession is applied for at INGEMMET; the first year's Derecho de Vigencia (rule 3) must be paid and proven when the claim (petitorio) is filed. Surveying, legal and community relations work are private costs.Texto Único Ordenado de la Ley General de Minería, Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-EM (TUO published 4 June 1992), MINEM annotated edition of March 2025, Art. 9, art. 10 and art. 11, 1992-06-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. From the year the claim is filed, the holder pays an annual Derecho de Vigencia of US$3.00 per hectare claimed or granted, or the equivalent in soles. Small producers pay US$1.00 and artisanal producers US$0.50 per hectare. The first year is paid when the claim is filed, and each later year by 30 June. The fee is separate from any tax owed by the owner of the land. Failing to pay on time in two years, consecutive or not, causes the concession to lapse (caducidad); a single missed year can be cured by paying within the next year's term, which is applied to the overdue year first.
Cost to do it: US$3.00 per hectare a year in the general regime; US$1.00 for small producers (up to 2,000 hectares and 350 tonnes a day under art. 91) and US$0.50 for artisanal producers (up to 1,000 hectares).
Example: A 1,000 hectare concession in the general regime pays US$3,000 a year, about S/ 10,356, by 30 June. / The same 1,000 hectares cost US$3,000 a year; a small producer would pay US$1,000 and an artisanal producer US$500.TUO de la Ley General de Minería, Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-EM, art. 39 as replaced by Decreto Legislativo Nº 913 and Ley Nº 27651, art. 59 as replaced by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1010, Art. 39 and art. 59, 1992-06-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. The concession carries a duty to work it. Annual production must reach at least 1 UIT per hectare granted for metallic minerals and 10 percent of a UIT for non metallic minerals (small producers 10 and 5 percent of a UIT, artisanal producers 5 percent), no later than the end of the tenth year after the year of title, proven with sales settlements filed by 30 June. If not reached, from the eleventh year the holder pays a penalty of 2 percent of the required minimum production per hectare a year; 5 percent from the end of the fifteenth year; and 10 percent from the end of the twentieth year. Without production by the end of the thirtieth year, the concession lapses. No penalty is due if the holder invests at least ten times the penalty in the year. The penalty is an increased Derecho de Vigencia and is paid with it. Failing to meet the production obligations for two years is also a cause of lapse.
Cost to do it: Penalty per hectare for metallic minerals in 2026: S/ 110 from year 11, S/ 275 from year 16 and S/ 550 from year 21, or an investment of ten times the penalty instead.
Example: A 1,000 hectare metallic concession must produce S/ 5,500,000 a year (1,000 UIT) by year 10. If it does not, it pays S/ 110,000 from year 11, S/ 275,000 from year 16 and S/ 550,000 from year 21, on top of the US$3,000 fee, unless it invests S/ 1,100,000 that year, ten times the year 11 penalty. / About US$1,593,280 of required annual production; penalties of about US$31,866, US$79,664 and US$159,328 a year; or about US$318,656 of qualifying investment in year 11 to avoid the penalty.TUO de la Ley General de Minería, Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-EM, art. 40 and 41 as replaced by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1320, Art. 38, art. 40, art. 41 and art. 59, 1992-06-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Decreto Legislativo Nº 1320 replaced art. 40 and 41 with the rising 2, 5 and 10 percent penalty and the 30 year lapse. The MINEM annotated text notes that, under DS Nº 011-2017-EM, concessions granted up to 31 December 2008 had to reach the minimum production by the end of 2018, and that for them the 30 year count runs from 1 January 2009.

5. Mining companies can sign Contratos de Garantías y Medidas de Promoción a la Inversión with the State. These freeze the tax regime in force when the investment programme is approved (no new taxes, no changes to how existing taxes are assessed, no forced bond purchases or advance payments), and guarantee free disposal of export foreign currency, access to foreign currency for payments abroad, non discrimination in exchange rates, free sale of minerals, stability of special regimes such as drawback and temporary admission, and no unilateral change of the guarantees. Three tiers apply: 10 years for operations of more than 350 and up to 5,000 tonnes a day or an investment programme of US$20 million; 12 years for projects of at least 5,000 tonnes a day with programmes of at least US$100 million (US$250 million for investments in existing mining companies); and 15 years for projects of at least 15,000 tonnes a day, or expansions to at least 20,000, with programmes of at least US$500 million. The 15 year regime applies only to contracts signed after Ley Nº 30230 took effect. The Dirección General de Minería must approve the investment programme within 45 calendar days, or it is deemed approved, and completion is proven with an externally audited sworn statement.
Cost to do it: Minimum investment programme of US$20 million (10 years), US$100 million or US$250 million (12 years) and US$500 million (15 years). Model contracts were approved by R.M. Nº 011-94-EM-VMM and DS Nº 022-2019-EM. Stabilised companies pay the Gravamen Especial a la Minería instead of the regime in rule 6 (see rule 6).
Example: A new 20,000 tonne a day copper project with a S/ 3,452,000,000 programme qualifies for the 15 year contract, and may bring the stabilised regime forward to the investment phase for up to 8 years, which is deducted from the 15. / The same US$1 billion project clears the US$500 million threshold of art. 83-B; a US$60 million expansion of a 2,000 tonne a day mine qualifies only for the 10 year contract.TUO de la Ley General de Minería, Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-EM, as amended by Ley Nº 30230 and Ley Nº 30296, Art. 78 to 83-B, 1992-06-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley Nº 30230 set the current thresholds of US$20 million, US$100 million, US$250 million and US$500 million and added art. 83-B for the 15 year contract; Ley Nº 30296 rewrote art. 82 and the third paragraph of art. 83-B on additional investments of at least US$25 million within the stabilised project.

6. Holders and assignees of mining concessions pay a quarterly mining royalty (regalía minera) on operating profit from the sale of metallic and non metallic minerals, at an effective rate from a cumulative progressive scale based on operating margin: marginal rates rise from 1 percent for margins below 10 percent to 12 percent for margins above 80 percent. The amount payable is the greater of that result and 1 percent of sales in the quarter. Small producers and artisanal miners pay 0 percent. The royalty is declared and paid within the last twelve business days of the second month after the quarter, and is deductible for income tax. Separately, metallic mining companies pay the Impuesto Especial a la Minería, a quarterly tax on the same operating profit at marginal rates from 2 percent (margins below 10 percent) to 8.4 percent (above 85 percent), also deductible and administered by SUNAT. Companies with stability contracts in force pay instead the Gravamen Especial a la Minería under Ley Nº 29790, a levy agreed with the State on operating profit from which the royalty is deducted.
Cost to do it: Royalty of 1 to 12 percent of quarterly operating profit, at least 1 percent of sales; special tax of 2 to 8.4 percent of operating profit; both on top of income tax and deductible from it.
Example: A non stabilised copper miner sells S/ 100,000,000 in a quarter with S/ 50,000,000 operating profit, a 50 percent margin. Royalty: effective rate 3.70 percent, so S/ 1,850,000, above the 1 percent floor of S/ 1,000,000. Special tax: effective rate 3.44 percent, so S/ 1,720,000. Total S/ 3,570,000, or 7.14 percent of operating profit. At a 30 percent margin (S/ 30,000,000 profit) the scale gives only S/ 675,000, so the floor of S/ 1,000,000 applies. / On about US$28,968,714 of quarterly sales and US$14,484,357 of operating profit: royalty about US$535,921, special tax about US$498,262, total about US$1,034,183 a quarter. At a 30 percent margin the floor of about US$289,687 applies instead of the scale result of about US$195,539.Ley Nº 28258, Ley de Regalía Minera, as amended by Ley Nº 29788 (El Peruano 28 September 2011); Ley Nº 29789, Ley que crea el Impuesto Especial a la Minería (same date); Ley Nº 29790 (same date), Ley 28258 art. 2, 3, 4, 6, 11 and Annex (as amended by Ley 29788); Ley 29789 art. 1, 5, 6, 9 and Annex; Ley 29790 art. 2 and 3, 2011-09-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley Nº 29788 replaced the original royalty on sales with the margin based scale and the 1 percent of sales floor, effective from the first day of the month after publication, 1 October 2011. Ley Nº 29789 and Ley Nº 29790 created the special tax and the levy for stabilised companies on the same date.

7. Oil and gas in the ground belong to the State, which grants PERUPETRO S.A. ownership of the hydrocarbons extracted so it can sign contracts. Exploration and exploitation are done under a Licence Contract (the contractor acquires the hydrocarbons extracted and pays the State a royalty in cash, deductible as an expense), a Services Contract (the contractor receives a fee based on audited production) or other forms authorised by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Contracts are awarded by direct negotiation or by tender, approved by supreme decree countersigned by the ministers of economy and of energy and mines within 60 days of the start of the approval process, and governed by private law; changes and assignments need a supreme decree too. Contracts may cover the 50 km border zone, which the law treats as a case of national necessity. Foreign companies must set up a branch or a company under the Ley General de Sociedades, keep a domicile in Lima and appoint a Peruvian national as representative. Maximum terms: exploration up to 7 years, extendable by up to 3 years in exceptional cases with an additional bonded work programme; exploitation up to 30 years from the effective date for crude oil and up to 40 years for non associated gas and condensates, plus retention periods of up to 10 years in total.
Cost to do it: No licence fee is set by the law; royalty rates, work programmes and bonds are agreed in each contract. Each work programme in the exploration phase must be backed by a joint, unconditional, irrevocable bond from a rated Peruvian financial institution (art. 21).
Example: A Colombian oil company awarded a block by PERUPETRO first registers a Peruvian branch with a Lima domicile, then signs a licence contract that takes effect only once the supreme decree approving it is published. / A gas discovery made in year 6 of exploration can be exploited until year 40 of the contract, plus any retention period agreed, with the royalty paid in cash under the valuation and payment mechanism set in the contract.Ley Nº 26221, Ley Orgánica de Hidrocarburos (promulgated 19 August 1993), as amended by Ley Nº 27377 (promulgated 6 December 2000); consolidated in the TUO approved by Decreto Supremo Nº 042-2005-EM, Art. 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 22 and 45, 1993-08-19 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley Nº 27377 added the 60 day deadline for approving contracts by supreme decree (art. 11 and 12), the exceptional extension of the exploration phase by up to 3 years (art. 22 a) and the cash royalty on audited production valued at international prices for liquids and market prices for gas (art. 45).

8. Projects included in the SEIA cannot begin, and no national, sectoral, regional or local authority may approve, authorise, permit, grant or enable them, without first obtaining the environmental certification in a resolution of the competent authority. Projects are classified by risk: Category I, Declaración de Impacto Ambiental, for projects without significant negative impacts; Category II, semi detailed Environmental Impact Study (EIA-sd), for moderate impacts; and Category III, detailed Environmental Impact Study (EIA-d), for significant impacts. Mining, oil, gas and power projects of scale typically fall in Category II or III.
Cost to do it: Fees for reviewing each study are set in the TUPA of the competent authority and were not verified here; the main cost is the baseline and study work by registered consultants, which is a private professional cost.
Example: A mine expansion that needs an EIA-d cannot begin construction, and MINEM cannot grant the mining permits that depend on it, until the certifying resolution is issued. / A US$300 million plant built before its certification is issued is in breach of art. 3, whatever other permits it holds.Ley Nº 27446, Ley del Sistema Nacional de Evaluación del Impacto Ambiental (El Peruano 23 April 2001), original text, Art. 3 and art. 4, 2001-04-23 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Term	Capacity condition	Minimum investment programme	Advance to investment phase	Article
10 years	Operations of more than 350 and up to 5,000 tonnes a day, or the investment in the next column	US$20 million	Up to 3 years, deducted from the term	Art. 78 and 79
12 years	Initial capacity of at least 5,000 tonnes a day, or expansion to at least 5,000	US$100 million for new activity; US$250 million in existing mining companies	Up to 8 years, deducted from the term	Art. 82 and 83
15 years	Initial capacity of at least 15,000 tonnes a day, or expansion to at least 20,000	US$500 million	Up to 8 years, deducted from the term	Art. 83-A and 83-B

Mining stability contracts under the TUO de la Ley General de Minería (DS 014-92-EM, as amended by Ley 30230 and Ley 30296)

Operating margin band	Royalty marginal rate	Special tax marginal rate
0 to 10%	1.00%	2.00%
10 to 15%	1.75%	2.40%
15 to 20%	2.50%	2.80%
20 to 25%	3.25%	3.20%
25 to 30%	4.00%	3.60%
30 to 35%	4.75%	4.00%
35 to 40%	5.50%	4.40%
40 to 45%	6.25%	4.80%
45 to 50%	7.00%	5.20%
50 to 55%	7.75%	5.60%
60 to 65%	9.25%	6.40%
75 to 80%	11.50%	7.60%
Above 80%	12.00%	8.00% (80 to 85%), 8.40% above 85%

Mining royalty and Impuesto Especial a la Minería, selected marginal rates by quarterly operating margin (Ley 28258 Annex as amended by Ley 29788; Ley 29789 Annex)

Period after the year of title	Penalty	Per hectare in 2026
Years 1 to 10	None, but production must be reached by the end of year 10	S/ 0
From year 11	2% of the minimum production (1 UIT)	S/ 110
From the end of year 15	5%	S/ 275
From the end of year 20	10%	S/ 550
End of year 30 without production	Concession lapses	Not applicable

Mining concession penalty for metallic minerals without the minimum production (TUO art. 38 and 40, DL 1320), per hectare at the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500

Worked example

Holding a 1,000 hectare copper concession in 2026: US$3,000 Derecho de Vigencia (about S/ 10,356) by 30 June each year. If title was granted in 2014 and the claim is still idle in 2026, year 12 after title, it also pays a 2 percent penalty of S/ 110,000 (about US$31,866) with the fee, unless it shows S/ 1,100,000 (about US$318,656) of qualifying investment that year.
Royalty and special tax on one quarter: sales S/ 100,000,000, operating profit S/ 50,000,000. Royalty S/ 1,850,000 and special tax S/ 1,720,000, together S/ 3,570,000 (about US$1,034,183), both deductible when computing income tax. A stabilised company would instead pay the Gravamen Especial a la Minería agreed under Ley 29790, from which the royalty is deducted.

Step by step

Check the target area in INGEMMET's concession cadastre and rule out the 50 km border strip, where foreigners need a supreme decree to hold mines or energy sources (see the real estate page).
File the claim (petitorio) at INGEMMET and pay and prove the first year's Derecho de Vigencia at filing (TUO art. 39).
Obtain surface rights from the landowner or community; the concession does not include the land (TUO art. 9).
Prepare and obtain the environmental certification in the right SEIA category before any works (Ley 27446 art. 3 and 4), then the further mining authorisations listed in DS 020-2020-EM art. 37.3.
Pay the Derecho de Vigencia and any penalty by 30 June every year; file the minimum investment declaration by 30 April and the production declaration by 30 June, as noted in the MINEM annotated text (DS 011-2017-EM art. 5).
For a large project, file the investment programme with the Dirección General de Minería for a stability contract (45 calendar days, deemed approved after that) before committing capital (TUO art. 81).
Once producing, declare and pay the royalty and the special tax each quarter within the last twelve business days of the second month after the quarter (Ley 28258 art. 6; Ley 29789 art. 6).
For oil and gas, register a Peruvian branch or company with a Lima domicile and a Peruvian representative, negotiate or bid with PERUPETRO, and start only after the approving supreme decree is published (Ley 26221 art. 11 and 15).

Common traps

Two missed annual fee payments, consecutive or not, end the concession (TUO art. 59). Late proof of payment is not accepted, as the MINEM text notes citing DS 03-94-EM art. 37, so a missed year can only be cured by paying within the next year's term, which is applied to the overdue year first.
A mining title alone does not allow any work: environmental certification and sector authorisations come first (TUO art. 9 note; Ley 27446 art. 3).
The royalty has a floor: in low margin quarters it is 1 percent of sales, not of profit, so it can exceed the scale result (Ley 28258 art. 4.3).
The 15 year stability tier applies only to contracts signed after Ley 30230 took effect; older contracts keep their original terms unless an addendum is signed (TUO art. 83-A note).
Stability covers only the activities of the company and project named in the contract; additional investments under the 15 year regime need at least US$25 million and prior MINEM approval and do not restart the term (TUO art. 83-B).
Losing small producer status during the year means paying the general US$3 fee, as the MINEM text notes under art. 59 citing DS 03-94-EM art. 112.
Hydrocarbon contract changes and assignments, including among consortium members, need a new supreme decree (Ley 26221 art. 12 and 17).

Sources

← Water rights in Peru: no private ownership of water, ANA licences, permits and authorizations, indefinite but non transferable licences, community rights and water chargesMining royalty and Impuesto Especial a la Minería in Peru: margin based scales, the 1 percent of sales floor, quarterly payment and deductibility →

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