Southern Perú announces that Tía María could begin construction at the end of the year

Raúl Jacob, vice president of finance at Southern Perú, announced that the mining project Aunt Maria Its construction would begin at the end of 2024 or during the first months of 2025, this was confirmed to the Reuters agency. With this, it would be launched the investment of more than 1.4 billion dollars that the company of Mexican origin has destined for the mining project, after more than 10 years of paralysis. According to Jacob, social conditions in the country have improved, which is why the restart of work in the area is being considered.

Since its announcement in 2009, the Aunt Maria Project, led by the Mexican company Southern Copper Corporation, is accused of going against local communities, which is why intense debates were generated about its social and environmental impact. As recalled, the Tambo Valley farmers have shown their rejection of this project due to concerns about the environmental impact and threat to their livelihoods.

Tía María: Executive prepared to restart the project despite his refusal during the campaign

The restart of the mining project Aunt Maria It was an issue put on the agenda by the Executive since last year. The then Minister of Energy and Mines, Óscar Vera, pointed out that the US$1.4 billion investment by the mining company was included in the economic recovery plans proposed by Boluarte.

This occurred despite the fact that in 2021, the then candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, Pedro Castillo and Dina Boluarte, signed the “commitment to the Tambo valley”. In this document, to which La República had access, it was noted that the then Peru Libre candidates committed to immediately withdraw the company from Arequipa if they won the elections:

“Immediate withdrawal of the Southern Perú mining company from the province of Islay, definitive cancellation of the Tía María y la Tapada mining project. Likewise, the definitive cancellation of all mining complaints in the province, to guarantee the development of agriculture, tourism and agro-exports , declaring the intangibility of the Tambo Valley,” reads the document that bears the signature of the former president Pedro Castillo and the now president Dina Boluarte.

Tía María: how did the project located in Arequipa start?

The mining project Aunt Mariapromoted by the company Southern Copper Corporationis located in the district of Cocachacra, province of Islayregion of Arequipa. Its objective is the extraction and processing of copper through two deposits: La Tapada and Tía María. Since its beginning in 2009, the project has been planned in two stages, with an investment of close to 1.4 billion dollars and an estimated production of 120,000 tons of high-purity copper cathodes per year.

Since its announcement, the project faced strong opposition from local communities, especially farmers in the Tambo Valley, who fear that mining will contaminate water resources and negatively affect agriculture in the region.