Thousands of Peruvian miners gathered for a second consecutive day in Lima on Tuesday, demanding the extension of temporary permits that allow them to undertake small-scale mining.

The Energy and Mines Commission is expected to review the Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry (REINFO) system that expires on December 31, 2025, over the coming days.

Miners from various regions of Peru have arrived in Lima calling for REINFO, which applies to informal and artisanal mining, to be extended for several years so they can meet the requirements and become formal miners.

"We have come to defend our jobs," said Feliciano Quispe, a miner who works in a remote area of the Puno region in southern Peru, on the border with Bolivia.

REINFO is a list maintained by Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines that groups together artisanal and small-scale miners who are in the process of formalization.

Large legal mining companies oppose adding thousands of miners to the registry or granting them more time to work.

They have argued that the REINFO system has allowed illegal mining practices to continue under the guise of formalization.

AP Video by Cesar Barreto and Mauricio Muñoz