United States | News & Politics

"Peru’s mining industry is essential to the country’s economic development. It accounts for nearly 10% of GDP, while mineral export revenues reached $27.2 billion in 2021, representing 60% of the country’s total exports. Peru is the world’s second-largest producer of copper, silver, and zinc and Latin America’s largest producer of gold. Peru is among the primary producers of mineral commodities in the world. Abundant mineral resources such as copper, gold, silver, and** lithium** are found mainly in the mountains. "

There you have it. UK and China are the highest investors. UK and US would not want China to get a foot in the door too deeply if China decided to start financially strong arming Peru for more resources as they have done in other areas of the world. Its the same strategy that the US uses globally too. Its a show of strength to the Chinese, basically a pissing contest to establish dominance over a territory. And Peru probably got a fat paycheck by interested parties to allow the US to operate there. China lost the bid, but who know what may change?

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/peru-mining-equipment-and-machinery#:~:text=Peru%20is%20the%20world's%20second,found%20mainly%20in%20the%20mountains.