Quiulacocha PDilings Reprocessing Project (DFC-2026-QUIULACOCHAPDI)

Countries
  • Peru
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Quiulacocha
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc.
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Mining
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 5.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 5.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 21.90 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS Sep 3, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the DFC, the project description indicates:

  • The $5 million project development funding is intended to support Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc (CDPR) in advancing its Quiulacocha Tailings Reprocessing Project (Project) in Peru. This initiative aims to enhance processing technologies and refining capacity in the Western Hemisphere, thereby strengthening the supply chain for critical minerals and reducing dependency on China.
  • The Project Development funds will be allocated specifically to three key areas: Feasibility Study & Engineering, Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), and Sonic Drilling for the Quiulacocha Tailings Storage Facility in Cerro de Pasco, Peru.
  • The Project requires $1.02 billion in total funding, including $21.9 million for feasibility studies,  permitting, and other pre-investment activities, $300 million for constructing a concentrator plant, and $700 million for a slurry pipeline and sulfuric acid plant.
  • DFC’s participation in in this large-scale tailings reprocessing project could serve as a model for future remediation efforts, and expand the production of strategically important critical minerals for the U.S. market. 
  • The Project has strong long-term value potential, driven by the scale of recoverable materials (~70M tonnes of tailings), the mix of metals (e.g., Cu, An, Pb, Ag, Au, In, Ga), and a two-phase developmental plan that enables early cash flow through flotation.
  • The project would advance processing technologies and refining capacity in the Western Hemisphere, reducing reliance on China for highly strategic critical minerals, including two (gallium and indium) that are secured only as by-products of other mining and processing activities and generally result in more limited opportunities for investment.
  • As one of the first large-scale tailings reprocessing projects in Latin America, Quiulacocha will set a precedent for similar remediation-based mining initiatives. DFC’s participation strengthens the credibility of this model and can help mobilize future remediation capital across the region.
Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms.

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability

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