The Zafranal Mining Company (CMZ) could lose ownership of 12,207 hectares to exploit copper for 19 years. The Autonomous Authority of Majes (Autodema), owner of the properties, handed over the usufruct of the area with a resolution of October 2022.
autodema sent a letter to CMZ to activate the annulment process ex officio and they communicated that they have five business days to correct the observations. At the close of this edition, the mining company confirmed that it submitted its defenses and clarified that it complied with everything required in the usufruct contract.
Once the allegations are analysed, Autodema is expedited to annul or ratify the administrative act of the mining project. The three requirements unfulfilled by CMZ according to Autodema are: the payment of two UIT for continuation of the procedure, the absence of a report from the Ministry of Energy and Mines that qualifies it as an investment project and the appraisal of the Construction Directorate of the Ministry of Housing , Construction and Sanitation. “We are clear that there are validity requirements that are missing. That is why we are starting the annulment process,” said Juan José Valverde, head of the Legal Department of this institution.
The lawyer indicated that they have a range of documentation that the requirements to deliver the usufruct have not been met, requirements set forth in directive 003-2022-SBN, the National Assets Law No. 29151 and its regulation DS 0008-2021-Housing. These shortcomings were also detected in the report commissioned by the legal firm Sánchez Povis Abogados. Valverde explained that, according to the directive, there are two necessary appraisals and in correlation. The first from the Construction Department and the second from a private company. Zafranal only delivered one. Unless the choice of the private appraiser was born from Autodema, but that documentation was not found.
“If they rectify the resolution, the resolution is ratified, but if these requirements are not met, we have to declare the nullity ex officio,” Valverde said. If that scenario occurs, he stressed that CMZ can resubmit what is missing to get a new resolution. All administrative acts will be safeguarded by the entity so that the private party can complete them.
University professor César Montes de Oca stated that This decision jeopardizes the viability of the project.
It maintains that the ownership of the land is necessary to obtain, for example, the license to build the mine. Otherwise, CMZ would not be able to build it in 2024 as planned. “It is a delay and eventually an act of extortion (…) The mechanism they carry out is to take away the property that I gave you. The objective is only to obtain a better appraisal because they believe they deserve more,” he says.
Montes de Oca points out that the measure affects the Arequipa population with the delay of the economic reactivation. “We are not thinking of the future, of the most that is going to be obtained when the project starts operating and generates royalties and jobs,” he said. In fifteen days, Autodema must resolve the case.
Source: Larepublica
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