In public presentations mining company executives attending last week’s copper congress in Santiago, the Chilean capital, were excited about the potential profits to be made from Peru’s high quality ore. With prices surging again this year, the mood in the industry is buoyant. Talk to the same business chiefs privately about Peru however, and a different picture emerges.

With the radical nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala a favourite to win the Peruvian presidential election – the first round of which took place on Sunday – executives with investments in the country are expecting a period of political turbulence, with higher taxes, new tougher contracts and even nationalization all seen as possibilities.