PCM: Tía María is not on the Government’s agenda

The Government of Dina Boluarte entered into contradictions over the copper project Aunt Maria. This was visible yesterday during the second day of Perumin 2023, which takes place in the city of Arequipa.

At the beginning of the week, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Óscar Vera Gargurevich, pointed out that Tía María is “very important for the country” and the Executive’s desire “is for it to be realized.”

However, the president of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otárola, tacitly disavowed Vera’s statements and pointed out that it is not on the Government’s agenda.

“As long as some problems are pending and the just claims of the population are not resolved, it is not in the Government’s priorities,” said Otárola without clarifying why the head of Energy and Mines had gone ahead.

It is worth noting that Tía María is a Southern Perú project in the province of Islay (Arequipa) that has its construction license approved, but does not begin operations due to the rejection of a sector of residents of the Tambo valley who fear contamination in the area. Agricultural area.

Strong hand on protests

Otárola’s message was marked by a political and confrontational tone. She said that President Boluarte would have liked to attend this event, however, she could not leave Lima because she had to prepare to respond today, Wednesday, to the Public Ministry for the deaths that occurred in the social protests in December and January.

He stressed that the president’s management is democratic and constitutional, in that sense, “their hands will not shake” when order has to be established to protect democracy and social peace. “We are not going to allow the country to fall into the hands of radical groups,” she concluded.

More projects to unlock

The premier mentioned that they will accompany the unblocking of nine mining projects, whose investment amounts to US$10,000 million. Among them he mentioned Zafranal, in Arequipa, a copper and gold mine, whose environmental impact study (EIA) was recently approved.

The construction of the expansion of the Toromocho project was also authorized for this semester and the modifications to the EIA of the Inmaculada mine were approved, and in the last quarter of the year the Replenishment of the Antamina mining project in Áncash should begin.

By the end of the year, the Government’s goal is to conclude all the certification processes for the nine projects. However, by 2023, mining investment is expected to decrease 18.1%.

Various problems on the front

Otárola also referred to the situation they had to face. He alleged that they had “500 violent protests” that even paralyzed mining activity, as they prevented the mineral from being shipped to Asia, the main customer, for weeks.

Then the panorama became complicated with attention to the climate emergency. The next challenge is to effectively confront the El Niño phenomenon. According to him, the Government invested more than S/4,000 million in prevention works, a record.

The word

Miguel Meza, leader of the Tambo Valley

“There is no confidence in what Otárola said. They want to demobilize the protests that began in the Tambo valley. Boluarte signed a document for us that Tía María was not going.”

Diary

Quellaveco and Zafranal on the mat

Welcome words (9:00 am)

• Abraham Chahuán, president of the IIMP.

Round table (9:10 am)

• ‘Challenges and opportunities in Peruvian mining’.
• Adolfo Heeren, CEO Peru of Anglo American.
• Derek Cooke, president, general manager and director of Cerro Verde.
• Eva Arias, executive president of Compañía Minera Poderosa.
• Juan Luis Kruger, CEO of Minsur.
• Oscar González, executive president of Southern Copper Corporation.

Portfolio new mines/projects advancing (11:30 am)

• Isidro Oyola, general manager of Quellaveco.
• Mario Baeza, general manager of Compañía Minera Zafranal.
• Richard Lizana, general manager of Gold Fields.
• Randy McMeekin, Director of Global Management at HATCH.

Brownfield Investment Portfolio (2:30 pm)

• ‘Powerful and its expansion plan’.
• ‘Inmaculada and Pallancata Projects’.
• ‘Antamina-Life Extension 1’.
• ‘Nexa Resources Portfolio of Operations’.
• ‘Northern Lagoons’.

Clean energies/evolution and global trends (4:00 pm)

• “Challenges and opportunities in the energy transition process.” José Venegas, former executive secretary of the National Energy Commission (Chile).
• César Butrón, president of COES SINAC.
• Julia Torreblanca, vice president of Corporate Affairs at Cerro Verde.
• Luis Miguel Castilla, executive director of Videnza Instituto.
• María Julia Aybar, vice president and president of the Hydrocarbons Sector Committee of the SNMPE.