The Contonga mine is an underground polymetallic operation with more than 27 years of mining history. The mine site is located in the Central Peruvian Andes, 470 kilometres north-east of Lima, Peru. At the Contonga mine, vertically zoned mineralization of skarn replacement is controlled by bedding orientation. Faulting occurs predominantly in strongly folded limestone, which surrounds the well-defined Contonga stock.

The polymetallic province of central Peru forms a 120-km-wide-800-km-1ong belt which corresponds with the western Cordillera and the high plateaus of the Andes between 7 and 14". Polymetallic vein and Skarn deposits associated with Cenozoic magmatism are the principal metal producers (they account for 70, 87, and 96% of Zn, Pb, and Ag production respectively), but stratabound deposits have gained in importance during the past 20 years, mainly as Zn providers; currently they account for 30, 13, and 4% of Zn, Pb, and Ag production respectively. Two principal sedimentary metallotects have been identified.

The variety in ages and types of polymetallic deposits made this province an especially attractive target for a comprehensive study of the distribution of minor and trace elements such as Ag, Bi, Cd, In, Ge, Ga, Sn, etc. in polymetallic ores on a regional scale.