The empresa minera Hochschild Mining (HOCM.L) Peru’s environmental regulators are expected to approve a plan in the first half of 2022 to extend the life of its Inmaculada silver mine to extract more gold and silver until 2042, a company executive told Reuters news agency. , a project that estimates a global investment of US $ 4.4 million.
“This application is in the evaluation stage by the environmental regulator Senace and is expected to be approved in the first half of 2022,” José Augusto Palma, vice president of legal and corporate affairs at Hochschild, told Reuters by email.
However, they reported that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) and the National Environmental Certification Service (Senace) They did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On the other hand, the timeline for the approval of any extension has not been previously reported.
Inmaculada is a 20,000 hectare mine of two thirds gold and one third silver that has 40 mining concessions located in the department of Ayacucho, in southern Peru. Immaculate can operate until the end of 2023 and the closure process will begin in 2022. On the other hand, the closure process of its other concession, the Pallancata mine (Ayacucho), will also begin in 2022, but the mine can continue operating until 2024. All these dates have the permits. current environmental conditions.
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On the other hand, the Hochschild spokesperson reported that would present a new plan to the Minem to delay the Pallancata closure process for three years, so that it begins in 2025. In addition, he said that later the firm would seek another extension to extend that date.
“Hochschild has no plans to close Inmaculada and Pallancata,” he said.
Community protests
It should be noted that the Inmaculada and Pallancata mines have been point of protests by the communities of the Andean region from Ayacucho, in southern Peru, who oppose any extension, arguing that the mines pollute local water sources. Which the Hochschild company denies.
They reported that the parties involved in the dispute over Inmaculada, Pallancata and the other two mines will meet to talk next Wednesday.
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The Company shares plummeted more than 50% in November, after the then Prime Minister of Peru said that he will not support extensions for those mines and two others that face opposition from the community. However, the government later indicated that it would allow the miners to seek extensions of their terms.
It is worth mentioning that local communities reported that will continue to pressure the government to meet your initial commitment to close the mines without changing existing schedules for closure. They affirm that they will renew the protests if the closure plans are not respected.
Tensions over the permit extensions have shaken the Peruvian mining industry, which faces ongoing community protests that have affected production at some of Peru’s major mines.
Source: Routers
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