Villagers set to restart protests against Peru's Minas Conga project
By Business News Americas staff reporter - Thursday, January 2, 2014
bnamericas.com
Newmont Mining's (NYSE: NEM) US$4.8bn Minas Conga copper-gold project in Peru, suspended since 2011, could face renewed protests this month.
Peasant militia known as ronderos plan to march to the project site in the northern Cajamarca region on January 16, Lima daily La República reported citing Edy Benavides, head of the environmental defense front for Hualgayoc-Bambamarca.
Ronderos from neighboring Celendín protested at the site last week and protests against the project may restart in the city of Cajamarca, the paper said. Peru is scheduled to hold regional and municipal elections in November.
The 32 communities surrounding the project "unanimously" supported the restart of operations, according to the cabinet chief's high commissioner on dialog and sustainability Vladimiro Huaroc.The project could restart this year if it gains a social license from local communities, he said.
Environmental protests in Cajamarca in mid-2011 led to the suspension of construction of Conga after Newmont revealed it planned to use several lakes as dumpsites. Since then, Newmont's local Minera Yanacocha subsidiary has been working on reservoir projects at the site to quadruple the local water supply.
"This meeting with government officials has no validity," Benavides told La República. "Conga doesn't have a social license, and the people who defend the water aren't going to give it to them."
Conga is one of the biggest investment projects in Peru's US$57bn mining portfolio. Average output over the first five years has been estimated at 650,000-750,000oz/y gold and 160M-210Mlb/y (72,575-95,254t) copper, at cash costs of US$300-400/oz and US$0.95-1.25/lb, respectively.
Denver-based Newmont holds 51.35% of the Conga project via Yanacocha, while Peru's Buenaventura and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation ( IFC) hold 43.65% and 5%, respectively. |
