White smoke. The representatives of the Executive and the three controversial mining companies in Ayacucho met until late last night, Monday, at the headquarters of the PCM, from where the bridges of dialogue were again tacked.
The meeting, led by Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez, had a first “positive” balance in the opinion of the private sector representatives, led by the head of the National Mining, Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE), Raúl Jacob.
Upon his departure, the premier, who was flanked by the ministers of Energy and Mines, Eduardo González; of the Environment, Rubén Ramírez; and from Economy and Finance, Pedro Francke; In addition to the president of the OEFA, Miriam Alegría Zevallos, said that during the meeting each party in controversy presented its point of view, under the will and commitment to respect the legal security of private investments.
“Do not fall into any type of one-sidedness, that is ruled out. Our position is to take into account and accompany the demands of the population, so this dialogue has been quite fruitful from our point of view, the dialogue will continue and we hope that in the coming days we can announce some measures that we are advancing in this case. ”, Remarked Vásquez.
Hours earlier, President Pedro Castillo had ratified from Arequipa his commitment to continue promoting private investment, including mining. For this, he stressed that his management will strictly respect the current legal framework and legal stability.
“We want a solid mining sector, with investments that generate employment and opportunities for our population,” he said during his visit to the White City.
However, he made it clear that the current Government is committed to responsible, modern and sustainable mining, where the environment and the rights of the communities are respected.
“[Las operaciones mineras] they must occur without contaminating the water basins, without contaminating the rivers, there must be a social and environmental commitment ”, the president stressed.
Regarding the latest announcements from the Executive regarding the plan to close the Pallancata, Inmaculada and Apumayo mines in Ayacucho, Castillo stressed that “there has not been, nor will there be, unilateral or arbitrary decisions outside the law.”
In this regard, he announced that he will convene the unions, local and regional authorities, as well as the communities to achieve consensus for the benefit of Peruvians.
Precisely because of these messages that puzzled the mining sector, the shares of the company Hochschild closed with a loss of 27% on the London Stock Exchange.
Plan can be modified
The Vice Minister of Mines, Jorge Chávez, explained that each mining project has its mine closure plan, which is accompanied by the Environmental Impact Study (EIA), therefore, it is a document that is presented by the mining companies themselves and it is approved by directive resolution by the Minem.
As is known, the mine closure plan has established deadlines, however, these can be modified at the request of the mining company.
“What happens is that today’s photography is what everyone knows, if there is an extension of each of the mining projects through the competent entities, which is the Ministry of the Environment (Minam), they have the obligation to transfer us that information and we will evaluate and approve it, because the mine closure plan is changing, ”the official explained.
Chávez Cresta indicated that they are aware that Hochschild plans to extend the useful life of the La Inmaculada mining unit, however, this request must continue with the procedure.
“We are aware that La Inmaculada is going to make an expansion of it, but it is at a level of exploration and study, and that continues its process through the corresponding channels,” the deputy minister pointed out to a local media.
This was confirmed by Ignacio Bustamante, CEO of Hochschild, who told Financial Time that he plans to extend the useful life for another 20 years, with an investment of US $ 4,436 million.
Likewise, the general manager of Apumayo, Guillermo Shinno, told La República that although they are empowered to carry out operations until June 2022, they intend to extend their authorizations.
“As our intention is to continue operating, a second MEIA is in the pipeline with a proposal to expand operations for an additional thirteen years to the period indicated above. We are at the stage of evaluating the request for classification of environmental studies that was presented last October 14 to Senace, ”Shinno confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Sami company – which operates the Breapampa mine – has also indicated that it has prepared a modification of the Environmental Impact Study.
Communities speak
Che Bernaola Torres, president of the Parinacochas Fighting Committee, recalled that the claims of southern Ayacucho are more than ten years old.
“I would invite them to verify that the mine has done nothing. The workers they defend are from other places, from our area, at most five or ten work. Even those who cook are companies from other places, they do not give work to our area. So, whether they leave or come does not help us, but their presence hurts us greatly due to contamination, ”he said.
The leader stressed that the closure of mines is not being requested immediately, but rather that the schedule established by the mining company itself be respected.
“For example, Apumayo, 2019 should have already started its final closure, but they want to continue operating and we will not allow that, the people already have their decision very firm,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Willy Contreras, advisor to the committee to combat mining contamination in Ayacucho, says that with the contamination of the headwaters of the southern Ayacucho watershed, more than 50,000 agricultural producers are affected.
Reactions
Guillermo Shinno, manager of Apumayo
“Our intention is to continue operating. A second MEIA is in the pipeline with a proposal to expand our operations for an additional 13 years, starting in June 2022 ″.
Jorge Chávez, Vice Minister of Mines
“Each mining project has its mine closure plan, which is an accessory to the main part of the Environmental Impact Study approved by Minam, that mine closure plan is presented by them.”
There are 84 mining conflicts
A report by the Ombudsman’s Office revealed that there are 84 social conflicts involving mining companies. Of that total, 63 are active and a solution to the population’s claims is not achieved.
The report mentions that in August of this year the peasant community of Pallancata indicated that the Suyamarca River would be contaminated, presumably due to the discharge of acidic waters with heavy metals without treatment from Compañía Minera Ares SAC (Unidad Minera Pallancata), which would have caused the death of trout and damage to the health of the members of the Pallancata peasant community and the Santa Rosa town center.
A law for the headwaters of the basin
By: César Gamboa, Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR)
Even when a basin head is identified, there is no express prohibition in Peru to be able to prohibit mining activities in it. Therefore, if we wanted to avoid a social conflict in its surroundings, we would have to establish a regulation around this concept, which is new in our scenario (the concept of the headwaters of the basin is not very old). If you really want to get to conserve them, it will be imperative that a priority is executed, from the legal framework, based on the existing right of these ecosystems. Design a series of instruments to avoid that, from now on, with the mining activity, environmental liabilities continue to exist and that, around them, there is efficient and correct management.
The objective is that they do not continue in time once the agent outside the head has completed his operation. What has happened now is a social upheaval in which the government has tried to solve the problem, but this is not consistent with the administrative framework in which the company, in this case the investor from Ayacucho, has not been notified of the decision to terminate their activities. It is a complicated situation for all parties.
It must also be taken into account that with this new regulation, it will not be possible to affect the pre-existing rights of third parties, which were already granted to them with the concession. But beware, if the population finally does not want mining in their region, it does not have to happen. It is up to the Executive to propose a series of actions to overcome this problem, but the main responsibility lies with the Legislature in making decisions about the future intangibility of our water sources.
Keys
Impact. The announcement of the premier about the closure of the Inmaculada mine was reflected in the shares of the company Hochschild Mining, as it had a 27% drop at the close of the day, however, at one point it reported a 50% decline.
Actions. The OEFA announced that it will carry out environmental evaluations in the area of the mining units, in the south of Ayacucho, to “identify the origin of the sources of environmental alteration.”
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