How many times have we heard that in life one should have a child, plant a tree and write a book? This White Paper has something of all three: it was born as an OLACDE initiative, grew through the contributions of those who added their perspectives, and today becomes a collectively built work.
For more than fifty years, we have worked alongside our Member Countries on the main energy challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean, with a historic presence in the electricity, oil and gas sectors. This is the first time OLACDE has published a White Paper devoted to mining.
Why? The context changed. Mining has come to occupy an increasingly important place in the global energy and geopolitical debate. Electrification, renewable energy, storage and digitalization have driven growing demand for critical minerals. At the same time, supply-chain security has become a strategic priority for governments, companies and international organizations.
In this context, Latin America and the Caribbean has much to contribute. Our region holds a significant share of the mineral resources the world will need over the coming decades. But having resources does not by itself guarantee development and growth. Turning them into investment, infrastructure and jobs requires planning, coordination and a long-term perspective.
That is the purpose of this work. The energy transition needs minerals, but producing those minerals requires energy infrastructure: generation, grids and supply systems capable of supporting their development. The availability, cost, reliability and origin of that energy can determine project viability and competitiveness.
Planning mining development requires anticipating energy demand; planning energy systems requires understanding where new mining production hubs will be located and what infrastructure will be needed to supply them. This intersection directly reflects OLACDE’s capabilities and a concrete institutional reality: more than 50% of the energy ministries of our Member Countries are Ministries of Mines and Energy or bring both responsibilities under the same roof.
Across its chapters, this White Paper examines the new global mining context, the region’s mining reality and projects, their relationship with energy and infrastructure, and the perspectives of those defining the future of the sector today.
When we began working on this book, we did not know exactly how far the initiative would take us. Along the way, new actors, experiences and perspectives joined and enriched the work, while also showing us how much remains to be incorporated. We also knew that a first edition could hardly reflect the full diversity of our region. There are surely actors still to invite, cases still to tell and discussions still to open. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, we see it as an invitation: to those not yet represented in these pages, we hope to welcome you in future editions. A regional agenda of this scale needs participation, cooperation and, perhaps, more leadership and fewer leaders, as a great friend once taught me.
This White Paper, presented in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the XI Energy Week, brings together information, experiences, projects and, especially, the voices of those who make decisions and face these challenges on the ground. I want to thank the governments, mining and energy companies, international organizations, financial institutions and specialists who contributed their knowledge and experience to make this collective work possible. And, especially, thanks to those within OLACDE who accompanied me on this adventure and helped turn it into reality.
We also do so in a complex year: a year marked by the continuing war in Ukraine, conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, new tensions affecting global supply chains and, also, a football World Cup that is no small matter for the person writing these lines. A 2026 in which energy, natural resources and geopolitics once again took center stage.
Latin America and the Caribbean has resources, knowledge, companies and institutions. Above all, it has an extraordinary opportunity ahead. The challenge is to transform that opportunity into development.
With this White Paper, OLACDE seeks to contribute to that objective: advancing toward a regional perspective in which mining development and energy planning are part of the same conversation.