The president of the board of directors of Compañía de Buenaventura Mines, Roque Benavides, was passing through Arequipa, where he addressed various issues related to the extractive sector. Among these issues are the viability of stopped projects, such as Tía María, the availability of water resources and the relationship between mining entrepreneurs and the Executive.
In Peru, there are 48 mining projects awaiting viability, including Tía María de Southern in Islay, Arequipa. Despite having a construction license, this project has not started due to the lack of social consensus in the Tambo Valleywhere concerns persist about the environmental pollution.
Benavides, despite having no relationship with Southern, advocated for the coexistence between the mining project and the agriculturesuggesting that the valley would benefit from the water from Paltiture dam. Between 2022 and 2023, Southern proposed financing Paltiture’s infrastructure, using some of the water for its mining operations and allocating the rest to the valley.
Benavides highlighted the importance of a dam system as a viable solution instead of seawater desalination, noting that it makes no sense to desalinate water when most precipitation ends up in the sea.
On the other hand, Tía María faces political problems in addition to environmental ones. President Dina Boluarte, when she was part of the campaign of current President Pedro Castillo, signed agreements pledging not to promote the project. Benavides emphasized that Boluarte will have to account for this issue and justify why Peru needs to value its natural resources.
Regarding government management, Benavides highlighted the difference between the Boluarte administration and that of Pedro Castillo, pointing out a greater openness to unblock mining projects currently. He assured that the Ministry of Energy and Mines has summoned businessmen and that the Ministry of Economy and Finance is willing to monitor the unblocking of these projects.
Source: Larepublica
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