Peru community wants its land back, threatening Chinese copper mine

By Marcelo Rochabrun

LAS BAMBAS, Peru (Reuters) - The community of Fuerabamba in the Andean region of Peru was resettled eight years ago to make way for a giant Chinese-owned copper mine, in a $1.2 billion scheme billed as a model solution to protests dogging the South American nation's mining sector.

Now the community wants the land back.

In mid-April, more than a hundred Fuerabamba community members stormed the Las Bambas mine and pitched tents near the open pit, forcing a halt in production at a site that provides 2% of global copper supplies. They were joined by the nearby Huancuire community, which was protesting a planned expansion of the mine on their former land.

 Peruvian indigenous community demands back its ancestral lands, on the site of one of the country's biggest copper mines owned by Chinese firm MMG

An attempt in late April by the mine's Chinese owner MMG Ltd to remove the camp led to clashes in which dozens of people were injured and failed to end the protest. Copper production - worth $3 billion a year - remains suspended, with no restart in sight.

The Fuerabamba members were evicted but the Huancuire community remained in place - and the two groups have formed an alliance to bargain with the government and the mine.

Las Bamas acknowledges that 20% of its obligations under the resettlement agreement are outstanding, including the purchase of new lands for the community.

While Fuerabamba's leaders had initially called just for Las Bambas just to fulfill its commitments, tensions have flared since the failed eviction.

"We're going to keep fighting until Las Bambas shuts down and gets out of here for good," Edison Vargas, the president of the Fuerabamba community, told Reuters. "It's war." The protest is the most severe crisis Las Bambas has faced since opening in 2016, calling into question the future of one of the largest investments ever made in Peru, the world’s No. 2 copper producer, industry experts say. The mine, which still has over a decade of planned production remaining, has faced road blockades in recent years by communities further away that have hit its production. But the invasion marks a major escalation as well as the potential unraveling of Peru's most expensive community resettlement scheme, amid a resurgence in South America of protests against mining projects.




Some 1,600 members of the Fuerabamba community were relocated by Las Bambas in 2014 to a purpose-built village with tidy rows of three-floor homes near the mine. The community approved the move, which came with $300 million in cash payouts, according to the company.

A Reuters reporter who visited Las Bambas in late April saw community members, including women and children, rebuilding adobe houses there and grazing cattle against the mine's open pit backdrop. Residents of Fuerabamba and Huancuire said they would not abandon demands for the return of what they called their ancestral lands.

They face long odds, according to former government officials and advisors. Both communities received substantial payments from Las Bambas in exchange for the land they now want back.

Executives at Las Bambas - which is 62.5%-owned by MMG, the Melbourne-based unit of state-owned China Minmetals Corp - say the protests are illegal and have called on authorities to enforce the rule of law. The company declined requests for comment for this story.

On Tuesday, as the stoppage entered a third week, Peru's government failed to broker a deal in talks at Las Bambas with the communities, as the two sides traded accusations of violence.


Edgardo Orderique, chief executive for operations at Las Bambas, said Fuerabamba and Huancuire members had destroyed tens of millions of dollars of equipment and injured 27 security personnel during the clashes late last month. Vargas said a Fuerabamba member had lost an eye in the violence.

The protest underscores the depth of the challenge facing Las Bambas as it proceeds with plans to increase annual copper output from 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes amid a spike in global copper prices.

"This protest is the most serious that Las Bambas has faced since it began operating in Peru," said Ivan Merino, a former mining minister under Peru's embattled President Pedro Castillo, whose government has been torn between its pledge to uphold the rights of rural communities - the bedrock of its support - and the need to revive the economy.



"The State does not have the control to resolve the conflict," said Merino.

Related video: Protesters tear gassed at copper mine in Peru (Reuters)

Peru's mining ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment.


A Peruvian indigenous community demands back its ancestral lands, on the site of one of the country's biggest copper mines owned by Chinese firm MMG

THE FACE OF PROGRESS

In the main square of New Fuerabamba, the town that Las Bambas built, a plaque says the settlement is the durable "face of progress and hope".

Close to a dozen residents, however, said the abrupt transition from rural living to town life had caused trauma and mental health issues. Reuters was not independently able to confirm this.

The residents cited simple problems like the new brick houses - which have electricity and indoor plumbing - do not keep out the cold of the chill Andean nights as well as their former adobe homes.

Residents have also complained that basics like water, food and fuel - which the rural community was previously able to glean from the land - must now be paid for. Many of them no longer plant crops or tend livestock because the replacement plots provided by Las Bambas are too far away.

"The problem is that sustainable development has not been achieved," said Paola Bustamante, a director at Videnza, a consultancy, who previously served as Peru's top official in charge of social conflicts at Las Bambas.

"What has been done is they were given some money and that's it."

As part of the resettlement agreement, Las Bambas gave one job per family at the company for the life of the mine. The company also said in a 2021 presentation that health and education levels have also sharply improved, particularly in young children.

Three residents told Reuters that some members of the community had already spent their payouts. The resettlement plan, which MMG inherited when it bought the mine from Glencore Plc in 2014, gave Fuerabamba's people cash settlements the mine says averaged $500,000 per family.

Residents say the payout was closer to $100,000.

Either way that's a huge sum in a country where the legal annual minimum wage is $3,300.

"For us, it seemed like a lot of money, endless money," Dominga Vargas, a lifelong resident of Fuerabamba, told Reuters from the tent camp at Las Bambas before the eviction. "But now it has all run out and we don't have anything left."

"How could we not regret selling," she added.

GOVERNMENT IGNORED 'CRITICAL SITUATION'

The government gave MMG permission to expand the mine in March. Fuerabamba chief Vargas said Castillo's administration turned a deaf ear to his warnings of a brewing crisis and a request for mediation before the occupation took place.

In a March 28 letter seen by Reuters, Vargas warned the mining ministry of a "critical situation" at Las Bambas. He told Tuesday's meeting that he also went to the capital Lima to ask the government to intervene in the dispute, without success.

On the day of the attempted eviction, April 27, the government declared a state of emergency in the area, suspending the civil rights to assembly and protest.

The government said in a statement following the eviction attempt that it had supported dialogue between the parties from the beginning.

Under Peruvian civil law, property owners can attempt to evict trespassers by force during the first 15 days after they have settled in the property. If that time period lapses, then they need to go through a lengthier legal process.

In the wake of the clashes, Vargas wrote to Las Bambas management saying that further attempts to restart mining operations would be considered a "provocation" by his community and could trigger more violence, according to a separate April 29 letter seen by Reuters.

"Las Bambas won't restart, not a single gram of copper will leave from here," he told the meeting on Tuesday.

The Huancuire community, which also sold land to Las Bambas a decade ago for $33 million that is now key to the expansion project, is demanding more benefits from the minerals under the ground.

Pablo O'Brien, a former adviser to several Peruvian governments including Castillo's, said the communities were pushing their luck making new demands given the large previous payouts.

"This situation is really just open extortion," he said. "They cannot complain that they have not benefited financially."

Community leaders denied the protests were a shakedown.

"As an indigenous community, we need to make ourselves heard because the government has issued this permit without consulting us," said Romualdo Ochoa, the President of Huancuire.

Under Peruvian law, citizens don't own mineral wealth underground and the land was already formally sold, Ochoa acknowledged. But he said indigenous communities have special rights because of their long ancestry in the territory: "What's under our soil still belongs to us."

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Additional reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Daniel Flynn)

PHOTOS © Reuters/ANGELA PONCE

Residents end blockade of Las Bambas mine road, agree to dialogue

Reuters | June 22, 2022 | 

Las Bambas is one of Peru’s largest copper producers, accounting for around 2% of global supply. (Image courtesy of MMG Instagram.)

A community in Peru’s Andes mountains on Wednesday suspended their blockade of a highway used by MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine, agreeing to negotiate with the government and the company over the road’s use, one of the community’s leaders said.


“It is a truce that will last until Wednesday of next week. If a solution is not found, we will restart the protest,” Efrain Mercado, president of the Mara district defense front, told Reuters by telephone.

Residents in the Mara district of the Apurimac region had blocked the highway with sticks and rubber tires, according to photos published on Twitter and confirmed to Reuters by a community leader.

The blockade signaled a new conflict just two weeks after the mining firm resumed operations following another protest that forced Las Bambas to shut down for more than 50 days, the longest in the mine’s history.

A source close to Las Bambas said earlier on Wednesday it was not immediately clear if the protest had affected transportation of copper concentrate from the mine.

Protesters on Wednesday morning had been demanding payment for use of the road, according to a source close to the company and a protest leader.

“We are blocking (the road) because the government is delaying land appraisals on properties through which the road passes. It is an indefinite protest,” Alex Roque, one of the Mara district’s leaders, told Reuters before the blockade was suspended.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and Chinese-owned Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest producers of the red metal.

The protest and shutdown have caused a major problem for the leftist administration of President Pedro Castillo, who came to office last year pledging to redistribute mining wealth but who is also under pressure to grow the economy.

Las Bambas alone accounts for 1% of Peru’s gross domestic product.

(By Marco Aquino, Anthony Esposito and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Road to Las Bambas mine blocked again by residents

Reuters | June 22, 2022

Credit: Presidencia Perú

A community in Peru’s Andes mountains on Wednesday blocked a highway used by MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine, demanding payment for use of the road, according to a source close to the company and a protest leader.


The new conflict comes just two weeks after the mining firm resumed operations following another protest that forced Las Bambas to shut down for more than 50 days, the longest in the mine’s history.


Residents in the Mara district of the Apurimac region blocked the highway with sticks and rubber tires, according to photos published on Twitter and confirmed to Reuters by a community leader.

“We are blocking (the road) because the government is delaying land appraisals on properties through which the road passes. It is an indefinite protest,” Alex Roque, one of the Mara district’s leaders, told Reuters.

A source close to Las Bambas also confirmed the blockade, but said it was not immediately clear if the protest was affecting transportation of copper concentrate from the mine.

Following the previous hiatus in operations, MMG said it expected production at the site and material transportation to resume on June 11.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and Chinese-owned Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest producers of the red metal.

The protest and shutdown have caused a major problem for the leftist administration of President Pedro Castillo, who came to office last year pledging to redistribute mining wealth but who is also under pressure to grow the economy.

Las Bambas alone accounts for 1% of Peru’s gross domestic product.

(By Marco Aquino and Anthony Esposito; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Peru strikes deal to avoid road blockade at Las Bambas mine

Reuters | October 5, 2021 |

Protesters block traffic near Las Bambas mine in Peru. (Credit: GEC)

Peru’s government said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas mine and the local Chumbivilcas community to avoid road blockades that have threatened production at the huge copper mine.


The country’s mining minister said in a tweet that the parties had reached the agreement in talks in the capital, following a temporary halt to the road blockades last week after three weeks of protests.

The deal, according to a copy of the agreement seen by Reuters, says Las Bambas will look to hire Chumbivilcas residents to provide services to the mine, including helping transport minerals and maintaining key transit roads.

Chumbivilcas residents had blockaded the key mining corridor used by Las Bambas for three weeks in September, almost causing the mine to suspend production. The mine produces some 2% of global copper.

The deal, brokered by the leftist government of President Pedro Castillo, seeks to stave off future conflicts that have hampered the mine for years. Chumbivilcas leaders had said they would block the road once again if no deal was signed on Tuesday.

At least one more deal needs to be reached to avoid fresh tensions arising.

The nearby Cotabambas community is expecting to conduct its own round of negotiations next week with the government. They are seeking higher spending on their communities from the taxes paid by Las Bambas.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Las Bambas standoff tests Castillo’s mining reform pledges

Reuters | October 4, 2021 

Critics say the leftist government of President Pedro Castillo has not lived up to its promises to voters in mining regions. (Image courtesy of FrenteGuasu | Twitter.)

Peru’s new socialist government swept to power pledging to strike a new deal with the copper mining sector and redistribute profits to Andean communities like those around the huge Las Bambas project, owned by China’s MMG.


Those promises are now being tested, with protests and blockades at Las Bambas in the country’s south straining government negotiators, a reflection of wider tensions between indigenous communities and the key mining sector.

The government and one local community agreed a temporary truce last week after a three-week long road blockade of a key transport road in the region of Chumbivilcas almost led to a shutdown of the mine that produces some 2% of global copper.

But tensions remain high ahead of new talks this week, with threats of further blockades as critics say the leftist government of President Pedro Castillo has not lived up to its promises to voters in mining regions, who bolstered his campaign.

“They continue with the same system as previous governments,” Sixto Huamani, a leader in the province of Chumbivilcas, told Reuters by phone late last week.

Communities in Chumbivilcas had blocked a dirt road through the province, vital for transporting copper produced at Las Bambas before being loaded onto freight trains.

Peru’s Energy and Mines Minister Ivan Merino told Reuters in an interview that “short-term decision making” by MMG was partly to blame for the conflict and called for the company to help build a new train line to the mine to bypass the dirt road.

He added, however, that the conflict at Las Bambas was a reflection of wider mining tensions in Peru, the world’s second larger producer of copper behind Andean neighbor Chile.

“It’s not just in that area, there are tensions and expectations all over the country,” Merino said.

‘Resume the blockade’

Reuters spoke to Merino, community leaders, and joined meetings with officials to understand the precarious detente currently in place around Las Bambas.

Chumbivilcas leaders will meet with government and mining officials on October 5 in Lima, and are demanding a better road, compensation for land use, tax transfers, and jobs for locals.

Another group of leaders from Cotabambas, the province where Las Bambas is located, want a meeting a week later to resolve a standoff over how to redistribute copper taxes.

Either community could move to block the road again, leaders said. “If on October 5 we don’t reach agreements, the next day we resume the blockade,” Huamani told Reuters.

Finding a permanent solution for Las Bambas is a key test for Castillo’s two-month-old administration, whose ambition to fund bigger social programs depends on increasing the country’s mineral wealth.

The Las Bambas mine has been hit for years by protests from local groups who say mining profits bypass the region’s communities. They also say the many trucks that go through the dirt road each day scatter dust, which ruin their crops.

Castillo pledged to change that dynamic, with huge support in mining regions sweeping him into office in late July. During the campaign he railed against mining firms as “pillaging” the country’s wealth and promised to sharply hike tax rates.

Las Bambas says it has paid 4.9-billion soles ($1.2-billion) in taxes and royalties since 2014, and spent $235-million on upgrading the dirt road.

Castillo has yet to publicly comment on the road blockages. A spokeswoman for MMG declined to comment.

While the government proposes longer-term solutions like new train routes, communities are looking for shorter-term deals.

Last week, leaders from Cotabambas abruptly walked out of a meeting with government negotiators in Lima.

“This negotiation is just taking us for a ride,” Gonzalo Velazquez, the mayor of Haquira, a district in Cotabambas, said during the meeting attended by a Reuters reporter.

Castillo’s prime minister, Guido Bellido, is himself from Chumbivilcas and had said early in his tenure that he would find solutions for the Las Bambas conflict by the end of September, a deadline now passed with no permanent resolution in sight.

“Listen, Bellido, you have to respect Cotabambas!” community leaders chanted this as they walked out of the meeting with the government. Bellido did not respond to a request for comment.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Aurora Ellis)

Strike at Las Bambas mine to end on Thursday

Reuters | November 28, 2023 |

Las Bambas is one of Peru’s largest copper producers, accounting for around 2% of global supply. (Image courtesy of MMG Instagram.)

A workers union at Peru’s large Las Bambas copper mine, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, began a two-day strike on Tuesday to demand greater profit sharing and better transport conditions, said the union’s secretary general Erick Ramos.


The mine is one of Peru’s largest copper producers, while the country itself is the No. 2 producer worldwide.

The strike, originally organized for an indefinite period, will end on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. local time, Ramos said on Tuesday afternoon.

“The labor authority declared the strike improper and, in order to avoid reprisals against the workers, it was decided to shorten the duration of the protest,” Ramos said in an interview with Reuters.

“The company does not want to consider our demands, and the relationship between the company and the union has broken down,” Ramos added.

Representatives for Las Bambas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ramos said in an interview that the union is demanding additional compensation after being informed by the company that “profits will be halved this year” and therefore there would be fewer benefits for employees under the profit-sharing scheme.

Slightly more than half of the 2,000 workers employed at the mine are part of the union, according to Ramos.

Las Bambas put out 221,160 metric tons of the red metal from January to September this year, nearly 22% more than the same period a year ago, according to Peru’s mining ministry.

Production at the copper mine has been recovering after a stoppage earlier this year caused by anti-government protests blocking an access road.

Las Bambas has a history of work stoppages due to protests by nearby Indigenous communities calling for more benefits from the mine.

(By Marco Aquino and Kylie Madry; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Sarah Morland and Aurora Ellis)

Workers at MMG’s Las Bambas mine go on indefinite strike

Reuters | November 28, 2023 |

Las Bambas mine in Peru is considered the world’s ninth-largest copper mine. Its production, however, has been curtailed by ongoing protests. (Image courtesy of Minera Las Bambas).

A workers union at Peru’s large Las Bambas copper mine, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, on Tuesday went on strike for an indefinite period, said the union’s secretary general Erick Ramos.


Las Bambas workers are demanding greater profit sharing and better transport conditions.

The mine is one of Peru’s largest copper producers, while the country itself is the No. 2 producer worldwide.

Las Bambas put out 221,160 metric tons of the red metal from January to September this year, nearly 22% more than the same period a year ago, according to Peru’s mining ministry.

Ramos said in an interview that the union is demanding additional compensation after being informed by the company that “profits will be halved this year” and therefore there would be fewer benefits for employees under the profit-sharing scheme.

Slightly more than half of the 2,000 workers employed at the mine are part of the union, according to Ramos.

Representatives for Las Bambas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Production at the copper mine has been recovering after a stoppage earlier this year caused by anti-government protests blocking an access road.

Las Bambas has a history of work stoppages due to protests by nearby indigenous communities calling for more benefits from the mine.

(By Marco Aquino and Kylie Madry; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sarah Morland)

PERU

Excusive-China-owned Las Bambas mine weighs plan to evict protesting communities

© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE

By Marcelo Rochabrun

LAS BAMBAS, Peru (Reuters) - Chinese-owned MMG Ltd's huge Las Bambas copper mine in Peru is considering a plan to evict indigenous communities that have camped on the property and forced a production halt, according to an executive and a document seen by Reuters.


© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE

Peru communities reject latest proposal to end Las Bambas mine conflicts

Under Peruvian civil law, property owners can attempt to evict trespassers by force during the first 15 days after they have settled in the property. If that time period lapses, then they need to go through a lengthier legal process.

People from the Fuerabamba and Huancuire communities entered the mine on April 14 and pitched tents inside the property, including near the mine's massive open pit. Las Bambas, which produces 2% of global copper, halted operations on April 20.


© Reuters/ANGELA PONCEPeru communities reject latest proposal to end Las Bambas mine conflicts

"It's still in the process of being decided," Carlos Castro, Las Bambas head of corporate affairs, said in a text message, when asked about the eviction plan on Tuesday. "The repossession defense can be exercised within the 15 days established by law."

Getting production started again at Las Bambas would add to global supply, potentially dampening prices, though the mine has faced recurring disruptions from impoverished local communities demanding higher financial contributions from the mine.

According to a letter from Peru's official ombudsman seen by Reuters, Las Bambas is planning to attempt the eviction on Wednesday.

The document, which is addressed to Peru's chief of police, asks that law enforcement officials abstain from engaging in violence if the eviction attempt takes place, considering the presence of women, children and elderly people.

A government source confirmed that the eviction had been discussed but he said a final decision was likely to be made on Wednesday. Peru is the world's no. 2 copper producer.

On Tuesday the Fuerabamba and Huancuire communities were preparing for a potential eviction, community leaders told a Reuters reporter who visited the site. Rumors had circled throughout the day about a potential attempt.


© Reuters/ANGELA PONCEPeru communities reject latest proposal to end Las Bambas mine conflicts

The Fuerabamba community was resettled to make way for Las Bambas, one of the word's largest copper mines, around a decade ago. The Huancuire community has sold land to Las Bambas.


© Reuters/ANGELA PONCEPeru communities reject latest proposal to end Las Bambas mine conflicts

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Colombia, Ecuador & Peru: Social engagement can make or break mining investment
Henry Lazenby | May 20, 2022 |

A 2021 meeting with farming communities protesting MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. (Reference image by Peru’s Presidency of the Ministers’ Council, Flickr).

Companies operating in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru should do a better job of engaging and sharing the wealth their mines generate.


Observers tell The Northern Miner that implementing corporate social responsibility (CSSR) programs when mining business in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru is simply not enough to guarantee success.

Instead, mineral explorers and developers often see substantial projects halted in their tracks by staunch community-level opposition, even when projects had passed regulatory muster, says mining sector researcher, analyst and reporter Paul Harris, in an interview.

Related: Peru fails yet again to broker truce allowing Las Bambas mine restart

Legacy CSR programs are simply no longer adequate. The analyst suggests those wishing to do business in these jurisdictions take a more holistic approach toward meaningful engagement with host communities before engaging governmental authorities about their respective projects.

The solution, according to Harris, is companies today have to be willing to give up an ownership stake in their projects so that local communities and local and federal governments have more skin in the game.

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KEEP READING AT NORTHERN MINER

Peru fails yet again to broker truce allowing Las Bambas mine restart

Reuters | May 19, 2022 

Las Bambas copper mine. Image: YouTube

Peru’s prime minister on Thursday failed to broker a deal with indigenous communities to allow for the restart of operations at MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine, the government’s fourth failed negotiation attempt.


Chinese-owned Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest copper mines, accounting for 2% of global supplies. The mine suspended operations on April 20 after two indigenous communities entered company property, reclaiming land that had once belonged to them before the mine started operations in 2016.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Anibal Torres traveled to the Andean region of Apurimac where the mine is located. But he arrived late and then abruptly left the meeting only an hour after it had started.

“It’s a lack of respect toward community members,” Baltazar Lataron, the governor of Apurimac, said about Torres’s departure.

The failed meeting extends the uncertainty on when Las Bambas will be able to restart copper production as its current suspension approaches the one-month mark, its longest shutdown so far.

Las Bambas accounts for 1% of Peru’s gross domestic product and company executives have warned that if a solution is not found soon they may have to furlough or fire some of its workers.

The protesting communities of Fuerabamba and Huancuire sold land to Las Bambas in the past for millions of dollars, but allege the mine has failed to honor all of its commitments.

Las Bambas is notorious for its social conflicts, involving dozens of different Andean communities that allege the benefits of its vast mineral wealth have not trickled down to them.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Peru mining protests risk clogging $53 billion investment pipeline

Reuters | May 17, 2022 

Yanacocha mine, in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region. (Image courtesy of Newmont.)

Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, risks losing out on billions of dollars of mining investment if the government fails to defuse protests that are hitting the industry and denting production, analysts and executives said.


Social conflicts have risen in the Andean nation over the past year since socialist President Pedro Castillo came into office, with a spate of protests against mines, including one that has halted production at the huge Las Bambas copper deposit.

With global prices soaring on high demand, that now threatens a mining investment pipeline of some $53 billion and could stall future projects expected by investment bank RBC to make up 12% of the world’s copper supply in years to come.

“Without any world-class projects on the horizon, the prospects for sustaining production are not good,” said Gonzalo Tamayo, analyst at Macroconsult and a former Peruvian mines and energy minister.

Mining executives and analyst met last week in Peru’s capital Lima, where the main concern was falling investment tied to rising social protests. A central bank report shows investment dipping some 1% this year and 15% in 2023.

The conflicts, mainly in poor Andean areas where communities feel bypassed by the huge mineral wealth beneath their soils, have started to bite, with protesters emboldened under Castillo who won election pledging to redistribute mining wealth.

Southern Copper’s Cuajone mine was paralyzed for almost two months earlier this year.

Las Bambas, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, suspended operations in April after an invasion of the mine by communities demanding what they called ancestral lands. The mine, which produces 2% of the world’s copper output, remains offline.

Las Bambas had received government approval in March to expand the mine, a plan which is now under threat.

Álvaro Ossio, vice president of commercial and finance for ​​Las Bambas, said in a presentation at the Lima event, that the country faces a big task to benefit from high global prices.

“The great challenge that remains for all Peruvians is to take advantage of this great opportunity in these future trends,” he said.

Peru’s last big mining investments were in Anglo American’s Quellaveco and Minsur’s Mina Justa of a combined $6.6 billion. Their operations starting this year will help Peru hit annual output of 3 million tonnes of copper by 2025, experts say.

However, other major projects like Southern Copper’s Tia María, Michiquillay and Los Chancas worth some $6.7 billion, Buenaventura’s near billion dollar Trapiche and Rio Tinto’s $5 billion La Granja remain up in the air.

Not all was downbeat, however.

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont Mining, said at the event that it was considering expanding into copper production in Peru, with a potential future return to the canceled Conga project.

Analyst Tamayo, though, stressed recent protests against mining had become harder to resolve.

“Now there are protests that stop mines in full operation,” he said. “The mining firms feel that the State does not support them and that the State has ceased to be the arbiter in conflicts.”

(By Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Richard Pullin)

Peru communities to allow Las Bambas copper mine restart after 51-day shutdown

Reuters | June 9, 2022 

Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest copper mines. Credit: MMG.

A group of indigenous Peruvian communities on Thursday agreed to temporarily lift a protest against MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine that forced the company to halt operations for more than 50 days, the longest in the mine’s history.


According to meeting minutes signed on Thursday afternoon, the truce will last thirty days and the communities and the mine will engage in talks during that time.

Las Bambas will immediately seek to restart copper production, although executives have warned that coming back to full capacity will take days after a prolonged suspension.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and Chinese-owned Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest producers of the red metal. The protest and shutdown had caused a major problem for the leftist administration of President Pedro Castillo, who is under pressure to grow the economy and had struggled for weeks to broker a restart deal.

Las Bambas alone accounts for 1% of Peru’s gross domestic product.

The protest was started by the communities of Fuerabamba and Huancuire in mid-April, who say Las Bambas had not honored all of its commitments with them. Both communities sold land to the company to make way for the mine, which opened in 2016 and is notorious for its recurrent social conflicts.

The two communities entered the mine and settled inside, forcing Las Bambas to halt operations. While Fuerabamba was evicted soon after that, Huancuire had managed to remain inside.

Related: Peru calls for new Las Bambas talks as police hint at eviction plan

Under the agreement, Huancuire will no longer protest inside mine property. During the truce, Las Bambas will also halt construction of its new Chalcobamba open pit mine, set to be located in land formerly owned by Huancuire.

At the meeting, community leaders also demanded jobs for community members and for the reshuffling of top mine executives, who they blame for causing social conflicts.

Las Bambas has agreed to an “evaluation and restructuring of the executives” who participate in negotiations with the local communities.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio)

Las Bambas mine suspends operations following protest

Reuters | April 18, 2022

Las Bambas open pit. (Image courtesy of MMG).

MMG Ltd said on Monday its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru will suspend operations from April 20 after residents of a community nearby entered the property as part of a protest.


Las Bambas accounts for 2% of the global copper supply and is a subject of recurring disruptions from impoverished local communities demanding higher financial contributions from the mine. Earlier this year, the mine were forced to slow down operations due to a road blockade.

MMG said the Fuerabamba community’s members had entered Las Bambas on April 14 to protest the company’s alleged failure to comply with its social investment commitments, allegations which MMG rejects. Members of the Huancuire community had also joined the protests.

The minerals exploration company also said a meeting was conducted on April 16, which included Peru’s Minister of Mines and Energy, members of the Fuerabamba community and Las Bambas, but the parties could not arrive at a resolution.

Further meetings led by the Prime Minister’s Office are scheduled over the coming days, MMG said.

Reuters could not reach a representative of the Fuerabamba community for comment. Fuerabamba is an indigenous quechua-speaking community that was resettled a few years ago to make way for Las Bambas in Peru’s Apurimac region.

Las Bambas is a member of the SNMPE, which represents the country’s large mines, and Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer.

MMG said Las Bambas will be unable to continue copper production from April 20, clarifying a statement made earlier in the day by Raul Jacob, the president of local mining chamber SNMPE, that operations had already ceased.

“Last week, 130 people from the Fuerabamba community invaded Las Bambas,” Jacob had told reporters earlier in the day. “This invasion has caused the suspension of operations.”

The latest conflict at Las Bambas comes as Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine has kept operations suspended since late-February after residents of nearby communities shut down the company’s water supply.

Jacob, who is also Southern Copper’s Chief Financial Officer, said the stoppage at both mines shows that the government is dragging its feet at solving mining conflicts.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun and Harish Sridharan; Editing by Nick Macfie and Uttaresh.V)

CHINESE IMPERIALI$M

Truce expires at Peru's Las Bambas copper mine without clear path forward

By Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino

© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE FILE PHOTO: 

A Peruvian indigenous community demands back its ancestral lands, on the site of one of the country's biggest copper mines owned by Chinese firm MMG

LIMA (Reuters) -Six indigenous Peruvian communities that have been protesting MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine said on Thursday there has been no progress after a full month of talks, as a precarious truce came to an end without a clear next step.

© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE Peru communities camp on the property of Las Bambas copper mine

The indigenous groups earlier this year staged the most significant protests in the history of the Chinese-owned Las Bambas, forcing the mine to suspend operations for over a month before agreeing to a 30-day truce in June

.

© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE

 A Peruvian indigenous community demands back its ancestral lands, on the site of one of the country's biggest copper mines owned by Chinese firm MMG

That truce ended on Thursday.

The communities, the government and the company discussed extending the truce for another month during a meeting that stretched through Thursday night but the local groups ultimately declined to sign any agreement.

The result leaves Las Bambas, one of the world's largest copper mines, in flux and facing the possibility of renewed protests that could once again disrupt its operations.

"In my community, there is no progress," said Romualdo Ochoa, the President of the Huancuire community, which is opposing a planned expansion by Las Bambas into its territory. "This is disappointing."

The indigenous communities say Las Bambas has not fulfilled all of its commitments with them and also say that the company has failed to benefit them financially.

Las Bambas executive Ivo Zhao said at the meeting that the company is willing to continue the talks. "It is necessary to continue negotiating," Zhao said.

Keeping Las Bambas in operation is also important for Peru, which is the world's No. 2 copper producer and depends on mining for a significant percentage of its tax revenue.

The suspension of operations at Las Bambas, as well as a separate suspension at Southern Copper Corp's Cuajone mine this year have weighed on the Peruvian economy, which is already under pressure to meet growth expectations because of falling commodity prices and worries about a worldwide recession.

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino; Editing by Sandra Maler and Christian Schmollinger)

Analysis-Peru's Castillo hardens stance on mining protests as economy stumbles

By Marcelo Rochabrun - 
© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE


LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's leftist President Pedro Castillo has signaled a tougher stance on protests against mining companies that are roiling the Andean nation, the world's second largest copper producer, mobilizing the army in a sharp tactical shift from a previous conciliatory approach.

Mining activity has been halted at Southern Copper Corp's Cuajone since late February as protesters from the mostly indigenous surrounding communities demand financial compensation and a share of future profits.

The government on Wednesday announced a state of emergency at the Cuajone mine, saying it would send military forces and suspend the right to protest at the mine that has been shuttered for over 50 days.

That's a significant pivot by Castillo, a former teacher who rode into office last year backed by voters in poor mining districts hoping for a greater share of Peru's mineral wealth. He has avoided clashing with protesters despite a series of blockades that have hit the country's main export sector.

"The problem has to be solved now," Peru's Prime Minister Anibal Torres said on Wednesday, citing "irrational" community demands at Cuajone, including asking for $5 billion in payments. "That has led us to declare a state of emergency."

Meanwhile, last week residents of the indigenous Fuerabamba community pitched tents just feet away from Chinese-owned MMG Ltd's huge Las Bambas open pit copper deposit.

The protests have taken a combined 20% of Peru's copper production offline at a time when the Andean country is battling slower growth amid high global inflation.

"Under this administration there are a greater number of mining protests and they are more serious," said Pablo O'Brien, a mining expert who worked as an adviser to several mining ministers, including under Castillo.

"The protests last longer than they ever did and they have spread to regions where you didn't see social conflicts before."

'WE COULD STAY FOR YEARS'

Protests have also hit other mines in Peru since Castillo came to office last July, including the Anglo-Swiss Glencore's Antapaccay, and Canada-based Hudbay Minerals Inc's Constancia and Antamina mines, co-owned by Glencore and the Anglo-Australian miner BHP.

In neighboring Chile, the No. 1 global copper producer, BHP is also facing road blockades that have disrupted operations at its major Escondida mine, forcing it to cut its annual copper production outlook this week.

But the pinch has been felt harder in Peru, where Cuajone and Las Bambas put together add up to 1.5% of the country's gross domestic product. Shares of Southern Copper and MMG have plummeted over 5 and 8% respectively in the past week.

Las Bambas executives have called on the government to also declare a state of emergency at the mine.

"Las Bambas currently is coordinating with the government, and we hope they can take the same action for Las Bambas," Wei Jianxian, MMG's Executive General Manager for the Americas, said in a call with analysts this week.

A government press representative said they were not aware of any plans for a state of emergency for Las Bambas.

Protesters, however, say they are digging in for the long-run, indicating that disruptions to the mining sector won't be easy to dismantle and that industry will continue to pressure the government to take firmer action.

"We could stay here for years," Edison Vargas, 32, the president of the Fuerabamba community, told Reuters. Vargas and others have set up camp inside Las Bambas and say they are demanding the return of their ancestral lands.

The mine had resettled some 400 Fuerabamba families over a decade ago in a compact urban town dubbed Nueva Fuerabamba to make way for the construction of Las Bambas, one of the world's top copper mines. It paid residents 600 million soles ($161 million) as compensation for the move, mine executives say.

Las Bambas is notorious for mining conflicts and has faced over 450 days of road blockades since the mine opened in 2016.

"If the government wants to turn their backs on us, we are ready," Vargas added. "We prefer to die here in our old lands than back in Nueva Fuerabamba."

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Aurora Ellis)

MMG's Las Bambas mine in Peru faces new shutdown as talks to end blockade fail

  

Friday December 03, 2021 

Kitco News

(Recasts with interview with executives)

By Marcelo Rochabrun, Marco Aquino and Sameer Manekar LIMA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine in Peru will shut down copper production by mid-December due to a road blockade, it said on Friday, as executives urged the government to build a freight rail link to avoid similar disruptions in future.

"The freight rail has huge social acceptance," Carlos Castro, Las Bambas head of corporate affairs, said in an interview with Reuters.

Las Bambas is one of Peru's largest copper mines, but its operations have been disrupted by close to 400 days since it began operations in 2016, executives said.

At issue is a dirt road that Las Bambas uses to transport the copper from its mine to a sea port. Communities along the road have staunchly opposed this method of transportation, alleging environmental and social concerns. Las Bambas last faced a production shutdown threat in October. Executives acknowledged in the interview that the dirt road was not sustainable into the future, saying it was the government's responsibility to pave the route in the medium-term, but that in the long-term building a separate freight train link would be the best solution.

While Peru's current administration under socialist Pedro Castillo has endorsed the train, the government's own cost-estimate is significant at $9.2 billion, and would only begin operations in 2028 at the earliest.

Las Bambas was originally going to transport its copper through an underground mineral pipeline, but that plan was cancelled when the mining project was sold to Chinese miner MMG. Still, executives said the mineral pipeline makes no sense anymore.

"From the point of view of social profitability, it is unacceptable," Castro said. "What local families tell us is that a mineral pipeline would negatively affect the area, because all the businesses associated with (copper) transport would cease to exist."

The road is currently blocked by residents of the Chumbivilcas province, who are negotiating contracts for locals to be hired as drivers for the mine.

The Hong Kong-listed company said that no resolution was reached at a meeting on Nov. 30 between the Peruvian government and the community due to what the company views as 'excessive commercial demands'. In July, Las Bambas flagged that production in 2021 was expected in the low end of its 310,00-330,000 tonnes forecast. Las Bambas produces 400,000 tonnes of copper a year, or about 2% of the world's copper.

Stockpiles on the site have now increased to around 50,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate. (Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and David Evans)

Peru indigenous communities say no progress in talks with Las Bambas copper mine

Reuters | July 21, 2022 |

A 2021 meeting with farming communities protesting MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. (Reference image by Peru’s Presidency of the Ministers’ Council, Flickr).

A group of indigenous Peruvian communities that have been protesting MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine said on Thursday there has been no progress after a full month of talks, risking the end of a precarious truce.


“In my community, there is no progress,” said Romualdo Ochoa, the President of the Huancuire community, which is opposing a planned expansion by Las Bambas into its territory. “This is disappointing.”

The remarks took place at a crucial meeting between Huancuire and five other neighboring communities with representatives from the mine and the Peruvian government.

Together, the six communities staged earlier this year the most significant protest in the history of Chinese-owned Las Bambas, forcing the mine to suspend operations for over a month.

The indigenous communities say Las Bambas has not fulfilled all of its commitments with them and also say that the company has failed to benefit them financially.

Las Bambas executive Ivo Zhao said at the meeting that the company is willing to continue the talks. “It is necessary to continue negotiating,” Zhao said.

In June the communities agreed to lift their protest, granting a 30-day truce that ends this week. But the communities suggested at the meeting that they might restart the protest in the next few days.

Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest copper mines, normally accounting for 2% of the world’s supply of the red metal. Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and mining is a significant source of tax revenue.

The suspension of operations at Las Bambas, as well as a separate suspension at Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine this year have weighed on the Peruvian economy, which is already under pressure to meet growth expectations due to falling commodity prices and worries about a worldwide recession.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Blockades at Peru’s Las Bambas copper mine hit operations
Reuters | November 3, 2022 | 

Las Bambas copper operation. Photo by MMG.

The huge Las Bambas copper mine in Peru has started to reduce operations due to recent blockades, the mine said in a statement Thursday.


Las Bambas, owned by Chinese firm MMG Ltd, is one of the largest copper mines in the world, but has suffered frequent disruptions from largely poor indigenous communities.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer.

“We have been forced to begin a progressive slowdown of our operations since Oct. 31,” the company said in a statement.

“There is also the threat of new interruptions to our Las Bambas operations in the very near term.”

On top of frequent road blockades, Las Bambas fully stopped operations for over a month this year when two communities that had sold land to make way for the company re-entered those areas.

While one community was evicted, the other – called Huancuire – remains in the property, the company said.

Related: Peruvian Indigenous community wants to become a shareholder in Las Bambas mine

“The weakening of the state’s capacity to combat conflicts is notable,” Peruvian mining industry group SNMPE said in a statement.

The disruptions against Las Bambas follows protests at another large mine, Hochschild Mining PLC’s Inmaculada, which produces gold and silver.

Hochschild said on Wednesday that protest had been lifted.

(By Marco Aquino; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Peru strives to keep dialogue going between Las Bambas, Indigenous as truce deadline looms

Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | July 10, 2022

Carlos Eyzaguirre, director of the General Office of Socio-Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Environment of Peru. (Image courtesy of the Ministry of Environment).

As the dialogue between Chinese miner MMG Ltd and six Peruvian Indigenous communities has come to a stall and the July 15th deadline to find a solution to a months-long conflict looms, government authorities are making an effort to keep the conversation going by assuring that Las Bambas copper mine goes through regular environmental inspections.


During a public hearing in Huancuire, in the southern-central Apurímac region, the director of the General Office of Socio-Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Environment, Carlos Eyzaguirre, said that the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement has so far performed 33 environmental inspections at Las Bambas.

According to Eyzaguirre, such inspections have been done as part of the obligations contemplated in the mine’s environmental impact assessment. The EIA – he said – also stipulates a series of commitments related to the way the mine is supposed to operate in relation to the surrounding communities.

The government official also pointed out that the Ministry of Environment is in charge of coordinating a specific working group whose objective is to foster a dialogue between Las Bambas and the Huancauire community, under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Presidency of the Ministers’ Council.

The working group also operates under a committee created by ministerial resolution nº 182-2022, which is meant to oversee and evaluate the commitments agreed upon by the executive power, MMG and the communities of Fuerabamba, Chila, Choaquere, Chuicuni, Pumamarca and Huancuire.

The conflict

After a number of protests were carried out for almost two months, forcing MMG to halt operations for more than 50 days, a 30-day truce was called on June 15th by the six communities in conflict with Las Bambas.

The actions were originally launched in mid-April by the communities of Fuerabamba and Huancuire, who say Las Bambas has not honoured all of its commitments to them. Both communities sold land to the company to make way for the mine, which opened in 2016.

The Chila, Choaquere, Chuicuni and Pumamarca communities joined later with similar complaints and all six of them are part of the committee aiming to find a middle ground between people’s demands and what the miner is willing to offer.

Following the truce, copper production at Las Bambas has reached normal levels. However, MMG has said that it is unlikely to meet its production guidance of 300,000-320,000 tonnes of copper concentrates this year if a permanent solution to the conflict is not found.

Peru is the world’s no. 2 copper producer and Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest producers of the red metal, accounting for 1% of the Andean country’s gross domestic product.

 

Peru evictions enter second day at halted Las Bambas mine

 

Reuters  Friday April 29, 2022 

(Adds statement from MMG) LIMA, April 28 (Reuters) - Peruvian police evicted indigenous protesters from MMG's Las Bambas copper mine for a second day on Thursday, as they disperse a camp set up on company property, an adviser to the community told Reuters.

The action at the Chinese-owned Las Bambas, which supplies 2% of the world's copper, follows Wednesday's eviction of another community that had pitched its camp near the massive open pit of the mine. "Yes, they are coming from three different directions, they are already coming in," Alexander Raul, an adviser to the Huancuire indigenous community, said about Thursday's police action.

In a security filing late on Wednesday Las Bambas had said the Huancuire community remained inside company property, although it had evicted the Fuerabamba community, which had been demanding the return of their ancestral lands.

In a statement, MMG said community members had again invaded the Las Bambas property on Friday and damaged some equipment. On Thursday, Peru's left-wing government said it had not participated in the evictions, but national police had joined in support of the company's right to expel trespassers.

Peru is the world's No. 2 copper producer and mining is a key source of tax revenue.

Las Bambas suspended operations on April 20 after the two communities settled inside the mine, saying it had failed to fulfill previous agreements. It is unclear when it will be able to resume production, halted for safety reasons. Huancuire sold land to Las Bambas in recent years to make way for a planned mine expansion this year. But the adviser, Raul, and Huancuire residents say the mine has not fully honored all commitments under the sale agreement and that profits have not trickled down to their community, allegations the company denies.

Peruvian law allows the use of force by property owners to expel trespassers during the first 15 days of an invasion, a legal statute that Las Bambas invoked this week, according to a company statement.

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun, additional reporting by Indranil Sarkar; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

PERU

DESPITE A LEFT WING EL PRESIDENTE

MMG expects to invest $2 billion in troubled Las Bambas copper mine in Peru

OR IN THIS CASE BECAUSE OF HIM

Reuters | September 27, 2022 |

(Reference image by the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, Twitter).

Chinese miner MMG Ltd expects to invest $2 billion in the next five years to expand its troubled Las Bambas copper mine in Peru and is eyeing potential acquisitions to further increase production, an executive said on Tuesday.


Las Bambas General Manager Edgardo Orderique said at the Perumin mining conference that the company is hoping to double copper production by 2025 and double it again by 2030.

The mine is expected to produce 240,000 tonnes of copper in 2022, after years of production drops due to falling ore grades and social conflicts.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and Las Bambas is one of the largest producers of the red metal in the world.

Las Bambas opened in 2016 in the Peruvian Andes, but has suffered recurrent disruptions from indigenous communities who say its vast mineral wealth has not translated into better living conditions.

Those disruptions reached a new peak this year when members of two neighboring communities settled inside Las Bambas, forcing the company to suspend all operations for over 50 days.

“The cost of the conflict since 2016 to date is of about 528 days of interrupted operations, almost a year and a half that we have gone through this situation,” Orderique said.

Most of the disruptions affected copper trucking, rather than copper mining.

Las Bambas is currently trying to build a second pit but work has been halted due to opposition from the indigenous Huancuire community, which used to own the land where the project is slated to be built.

Orderique said he hoped that the pit can be built in the “following months” to compensate for falling ore grades at its current pit.

MMG has previously said it will not go forward with the project until it can reach an enduring agreement with the Huancuire community.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino; Editing by Richard Pullin and Josie Kao)

BHP wants to expand presence in Peru, says executive

Reuters | September 27, 2022 

The Antamina mine in Peru is one of the largest copper-zinc mines in the world. (Image courtesy of Antamina)

Global miner BHP wants to expand its presence in Peru through exploration of new projects, Rag Udd, who heads the company in the Americas, said on Tuesday at the Perumin mining conference.


Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer and BHP is a part-owner of one of its largest copper mines, Antamina.

Udd added that BHP will invest $12 million on exploration in the next 10 months and that it is evaluating six potential projects.

Despite falling prices in recent months, Udd said he remains optimistic about future demand for copper amid an energy transition away from fossil fuels.

“Peru has all the potential to grasp that opportunity and unleash a new positive cycle,” Udd said, adding the country has maintained “stable” macroeconomic fundamentals in recent years.

BHP is also the operator of the world’s largest copper mine, Escondida in Chile.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Sierra Metals halts 2022 production and finance guidance on Peru mine blockade

Cecilia Jamasmie | September 23, 2022 | 

Yauricocha copper mine. (Image courtesy of Sierra Metals | Twitter.)

Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT) (NYSE AMERICAN: SMTS) (BVL: SMT) said a group of residents from the Peruvian town of Alis are blocking the access to its flagship Yauricocha copper mine, where production has been suspended for over a week.


The Canadian miner did not specify why community members are blocking access to the mine, but some speculate it could be tied to the death of three miners at the operation due to a mudslide on Sept. 12.

Mine production remains halted with activities limited to critical operations to ensure proper safety and maintenance, Sierra Metals said.

The Toronto-based miner noted that due to uncertainty around how long it will take to solve the dispute and the potential delay in the progressive restart of production at Yauricocha, 2022 production and financial guidance have also been suspended.

Company representatives have taken part in conversations with members of the group and are also studying requests organized by the Peruvian government.

Sierra Metals said it remained committed to the social development of its host communities, adding that it was working towards “a peaceful and expeditious resolution” of the situation.

“As a road blockade is a matter of public concern, the company has involved the local authorities for their mediation and assistance in resolving this matter,” it said in the statement.

Yauricocha is an underground mine located in western central Peru in the Yauyos province at an average altitude of 4,600 meters.

Last produced 31.8 million pounds of copper and 79.3 million pounds of zinc.
Conflicts on the rise

Mining conflicts are on the rise in Peru, the world’s No. 2 copper producer and an important producer of zinc, as empowered local communities are upping demands under the administration of leftist President Pedro Castillo, in power since July 2021.

Earlier this year, a wave of protests hit the country’s major operations, including Glencore’s (LON: GLEN) Antapaccay, the country’s sixth largest copper mine. Other operations affected were Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine and MMG’s giant Las Bambas mine, which is the nation’s fourth-largest copper mine and the world’s ninth-largest.

Copper is a hot commodity due to its role in the world’s decarbonization, with experts predicting that demand for the orange metal relating to energy transition activities — clean power and electrified transport, and the infrastructure supporting them — will grow about 4% per year between now and 2040.

Traditional copper consumers, such as construction and manufacturing of heating and cooling equipment will increase their need for copper only 1.5% per year over the same period.

Goldman Sachs expects global demand for copper will begin to outstrip supplies by 2025, pushing prices to twice their current level.