Peru DS 006-2026-EM — Uranium and Lithium Recognised as Critical Strategic Minerals; International Forum Declared of National Importance

Mechanism

Decreto Supremo N° 006-2026-EM operates on two levels:

Mineral recognition layer. The decree's recitals formally characterise uranium and lithium as minerales críticos y estratégicos de creciente relevancia internacional, citing Peru's estimated 4.6 Mt LCE lithium resources on the Macusani Plateau (Puno region) and the co-located uranium deposits — the first time uranium has received this explicit national-importance framing at executive decree level in Peru. The legal basis is different from Ley 32560 (the March 2026 parliamentary statute on nuclear electricity generation via SMRs); DS 006-2026-EM is an executive instrument issued under the MINEM's sectoral regulatory authority rather than the congressional nuclear-energy track.

Forum instrument. The operative articles assign MINEM and MVCS responsibility for organising the I International Forum (7–8 July 2026), declared an event of interés/ importancia nacional. In Peruvian administrative law, this designation unlocks ministerial coordination resources, obligates public-sector participation, and typically signals presidential-level priority. It does not create new export-control or licensing obligations in isolation — those flow from the regulatory framework already in place.

What this is not. The decree is not a comprehensive strategic-mineral classification instrument on the scale of Chile's 2023 National Lithium Strategy or DRC's strategic mineral expansion orders. It is primarily a forum-establishment decree that carries mineral-recognition language. Its near-term operative effect is political signal and diplomatic convening; any downstream licensing treatment, royalty reassessment, or state pre-emption would require a separate regulatory instrument.

Context

Peru sits at the intersection of multiple overlapping critical-mineral policy tracks in 2026:

• Macusani Plateau. American Lithium Corp's Falchani (lithium brine/hard-rock deposit)

and Macusani (uranium) projects are the most advanced assets in the focal zone. The decree's explicit reference to the Macusani Plateau signals government intent to position the plateau as a primary supply-chain node rather than an exploration-stage curiosity.

• US-Peru Critical Minerals MOU (February 2026). DS 006-2026-EM sits downstream of the

bilateral MOU signed with the US Department of State on 4 February 2026 (filed 2026-02-04-us-peru-critical-minerals-mou), which committed Peru to stable and resilient supply chains and domestic value addition. The forum serves as the soft-diplomacy implementation vehicle for that commitment.

• Ley 32560 (nuclear SMR track, March 2026). The congressional statute promotes nuclear

electricity generation via SMRs as a domestic-energy instrument. DS 006-2026-EM is the MINEM's parallel executive track for uranium as an export-commodity/strategic-mineral, not as a fuel input — distinct statutory authority and commercial framing.

• Peru's register position. Prior to this decree, PE=10 actions; none specifically

classified uranium or lithium as strategic minerals under executive authority. This fills that gap at the cost of being a lower-severity procedural instrument.

Eight thematic axes of the Forum

The decree mandates the forum to cover: (i) critical mineral potential and security; (ii) mining exploration and geoscientific data; (iii) energy transition and industrial development; (iv) investment, sustainability, and governance; (v) smart cities in mining environments; (vi) autonomy and connectivity; (vii) strategies for incorporating uranium and lithium in water management and circular economy; (viii) environmental management for water optimisation and circular sanitation.

Downstream implications

• American Lithium Corp / Falchani. Direct government endorsement of the Macusani

Plateau and the July forum signals accelerated permitting visibility for the Falchani lithium hard-rock project (one of the largest lithium deposits in Peru). Company explicitly welcomed the decree (Mining Weekly, 3 June 2026).

• Uranium track. Peru has commercially negligible uranium production today. Forum

designation as "national importance" combined with Ley 32560's SMR track creates the earliest possible signalling environment for a domestic uranium fuel cycle — material to watch over a 5–10 year horizon.

• CRMA Art. 24 relevance. Lithium is a Strategic Raw Material under CRMA Annex II.

Peru-origin lithium (if extraction accelerates from the Macusani Plateau) would enter European due-diligence disclosure obligations for large companies. The decree's "strategic mineral" framing assists supply-chain risk teams in tracking the regulatory maturation of Peru as an alternative supply node to Chile/Argentina.

Open questions

• Will MINEM follow up DS 006-2026-EM with a formal Strategic Mineral Register for Peru

(analogous to Chile's DS 15-2023 or Colombia's ANM Resolución 1006/2023)?

• Does the "national importance" designation trigger MINEM priority licensing treatment

or right of first offer for uranium or lithium concessions in the Macusani Plateau?

• Forum outcome: will July 7–8 produce any binding policy instruments (investment

agreements, joint-venture frameworks, export-certification commitments)?