By Mitra Taj
Reuters
A crackdown on illegally mined gold in Peru has nearly frozen shipments from shell companies and will likely cut overall exports of the precious metal by 25 percent this year, officials said on Tuesday. Peru is the world’s sixth biggest gold exporter, producing around 140 million grams of gold last year.
About a quarter of the estimated $8 billion in gold shipped from the Andean country last year was likely exported by companies that acquire ore from illegal sources and evade taxes, said a customs official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and Daniel Urresti, a high-ranking Peru official charged with tackling illegal mining.