The cut in production in Las Bambas, Antapaccay and Constancia, which concentrate more than 20% of the national supply of copperAdded today is not only the fear of other operations such as Falchani (lithium) or San Rafael (tin), but also a mismanagement of the conflict warned by specialists in the sector.
According to calculations by the National Mining, Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE), more than US$160 million in production has been lost so far in 2023, in addition to discouraging the annual investment projection of US$2,000 million to the regret of the owner of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), Oscar Vera, who a week ago told La República that he would redouble efforts to resume dialogue. But the dead have grown ever since.
For the former Vice Minister of Mines Romulo Muchoit is time for the Government to change its strategy and for the minister to step on the Corredor del Sur.
Due to his work, which is also close to agriculture, Mucho laments the collateral damage to farmland in mining-influenced areas, which were affected by droughts.
“There are 35,000 workers unemployed today. If the elections have to be accelerated, let it be done, but first you have to find the interlocutors“, he clarifies.
Epifanio Baca, principal investigator of Propuesta Ciudadana, argues that only the region of Cusco The 20% of the budget it receives from mining and gas canons and royalties will be compromised if the situation lasts.
However, he specifies that the effects of the repression exerted to silence the protests will only be seen in the medium and long term on mining investment.
“While they do that with people, Otárola meets with Southern investors. That is a regrettable message; in the south there is the capacity to paralyze the extractive activity in its entirety”, says Baca.
This, despite the fact that the Minem promotes a portfolio of 47 projects in 18 regions with a joint investment of US$53.715 million, led by three departments outside the hotspot of the fight: Cajamarca, Apurímac and Arequipa.
“It is striking that unions like SNMPE and Confiep do not distance themselves from this way of governing,” he points out.
Copper boom does not reach Peru
After a highly volatile 2022, copper has recovered its momentum and today it is trading above US$9,000 MT.
Scotiabank reduced from 12% to 11% its estimate of growth in national production of the red metal in 2023.
Macusani Yellowcake stopped its lithium hydrogeological studies in Puno this month.
The miners of Pampa Blanca, in Ananea, joined the marches against the Government.
Source: Larepublica
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