MINERAL RESOURCES
Peru produces and exports 28 different minerals, which are mined mainly in the central and southern parts of the highlands and the coastal region. The mines have provided a major part of Peru's exports for over 350 years. The most important mines are in the vecinity of Cerro de Pasco and La Oroya (northeast of Lima and Arequipa and Toquepala (in the extreme south). Some mines are located at altitudes of over 4,900 meters (16,000 feet). The most important product is copper, followed by zinc, silver, iron, tin, molybdenum, tungsten, antimony, bismuth, vanadium, mercury, uranium, sulfur, phosphate and salt. Small quantities of coal used mainly for smelting are mined at several locations on the western fringes of the Andes.
Peru's main oilfields are on the western fringes of the northern part of the lowlands. The oil is conveyed by pipeline to Talara in the extreme northern coastal region, where it is refined and partly exported. Peru's first oilfields were discovered in the vecinity of Talara, where some fields are still productive. There are also some offshore oil wells. Production was 7 million tons in 1988. Natural gas production was 1,140 million cubic meters (in the central part of the lowlands).
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