San Rafael: a tin operation in Peru
San Rafael is an underground tin mine producing tin in Melgar Province, Puno Department, Peru, operated by Minsur. The sources report 26,037 t, 'Sn fines' (the report calls it tonnes of contained tin) for CY2025; the basis is San Rafael mine only, as reported by the operator (the B2 tailings plant is reported separately). In tin content, whole-operation output for CY2025 is 26,037 tonnes: about 9% of world tin output in 2025 and about 79% of Peru's; it is one of 6 operations on this site whose output can be stated in tin content.
Who owns and operates it?
| Owner | Interest | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Minsur | — | 31 December 2025 |
How much does it produce?
| Period | Output | Basis | Where in the source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CY2025 | 26,037 t, 'Sn fines' (the report calls it tonnes of contained tin) | San Rafael mine only, as reported by the operator (the B2 tailings plant is reported separately) | PDF p.29 (printed p.29), Table 4 San Rafael Mining Unit Production Indicators, row 'Sn fines', 2025 column; also p.29 text 'production of 26,037 tonnes of contained tin'; the 4Q25 consolidated results release prints 26,037 in Table N°4, row 'Tin production (Sn) - San Rafael', printed p.5 · Minsur S.A. |
| CY2024 | 24,442 t, 'Sn fines' | San Rafael mine only, as reported by the operator | PDF p.29, Table 4, row 'Sn fines', 2024 column · Minsur S.A. |
| 9M2026 (January to September 2026) | 20,545 t, 'Tin production (Sn) - San Rafael' | San Rafael mine only, as reported by the operator | PDF p.3, Table N°2, row 'Tin production (Sn) - San Rafael', 9M26 column · Minsur S.A. |
How the tin-content figure is worked out. Minsur reports 26,037 tonnes of tin fines (contained tin) from the San Rafael concentrator in 2025, from 63,070 t of concentrate at 41.28% Sn (63,070 x 0.4128 = 26,035). The figure is the operator's own report for the mine. World mine production of tin in 2025 was 290,000 tonnes (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026); Peru produced 33,000 tonnes.
Status: operating, as of 30 September 2026.
- The 4Q25 release reports refined tin production at the Pisco smelter and refinery of 32,981 t in 2025. That is smelter output from San Rafael and B2 concentrate and is not mine production, so it is not used.
- The integrated report prints the operation type as underground tin mine in Melgar Province, Puno Department, and an operational start date of 1977 (PDF p.13).
- B2 tailings reprocessing at San Rafael is listed separately (san-rafael-b2). Together the two Minsur lines (26,037 t and 7,782 t) are 33,819 t, compared with USGS 33,000 t for Peru in 2025.
How does it compare?
Other tin operations on this site: Bisie Tin Mine, San Rafael B2 tailings reprocessing plant, Renison Tin Operation, PT Timah tin mining (company total), Yunnan Tin Company mines (company total), Huaxi Nonferrous tin concentrate (company total), Xingye Silver and Tin mines (company total). In Peru: San Rafael B2 tailings reprocessing plant. See where tin comes from for the country totals, the country page for Peru, and Minsur for its other operations here.
Sources
- Minsur S.A.: Integrated Annual Report 2025 (annual report (English file on the company's investor page, dated 24 April 2026), CY2025, with 2022 to 2024 comparatives). Opened 4 November 2026; used: PDF pp.9, 13, 29, 31 (PDF page numbers equal printed page numbers).
- Minsur S.A.: Individual Results Third Quarter 2026 (quarterly results release (English file on the company's investor page), 3Q26 and 9M26, with 3Q25 and 9M25 comparatives). Opened 4 November 2026; used: PDF p.3 (Table N°2, San Rafael - Pisco Operating Results).
- U.S. Geological Survey: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Tin (government statistical summary, 2025 (world and country mine production)). Opened 3 November 2026; used: world and country mine production table.
Method and limits
- Reported, not estimated. Output is the figure the operator or owner published, in the unit it used. This site does not estimate output where none is published.
- Shares. A share divides output in tin content by the USGS world or country total for 2025. Where the operator's year is a fiscal year or the unit is a concentrate or a carbonate equivalent, the share is approximate or not given.
- Whole operation or owner's share. The basis column says which. A joint venture's output is never counted twice.
- Partial list. Only operations with a published figure are listed, so the rank is among those on this site, not among every tin mine. Shares of a country's output mix periods and bases, so treat them as indicative.
- Made with AI assistance, checked against sources. The facts were gathered from the documents above by AI-assisted research and re-checked against those documents by a second, independent pass; the page text is generated from the data. No professional review took place. How the site is made. To report an error, contact us; fixes are logged on the corrections page.