Dina Boluarte’s management has the will to resume the Conga mining project (Newmont and Yanacocha Mining) and encourages the beginning of Tía María (Southern Copper). Although both do not have a social license, the Government plays its cards for mining in order to close gaps after a year of recession, since Peru is a key player in the framework of the global energy transition, which drives demand for metals like copper.
“We are not going to allow Conga, Galeno, Michiquillay and La Granja and other discoveries not to be produced.”the Minister of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho, told La República and other media, within the framework of the XV International Mining Meeting Symposium organized by the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE).
The official specified that in Cajamarca both the State and the mining companies have a great social work to do, but he insisted – before an auditorium full of corporate people – that if Conga and then Tía María had not stopped in 2011, “history would have been another” and copper production, for example, would have exceeded 4 million metric tons.
Aunt María would be in 2028
Raúl Jacob, CFO of Southern, told Bloomberg that this year or at the beginning of 2025 they hope to begin construction of Tía María; and in response to this, Minister Mucho stressed that the company is the owner of his word and the project, and the Minem It only facilitates and helps in the negotiation, but does not determine whether or not it should be done. He estimates that in two and a half or three years the infrastructure will be ready. That is, in 2028 it would already be producing.
He even told RPP that “if it depended on us, it should leave tomorrow.”
Jacob added for this newspaper that, If an agreement is reached for Tía María to start operations, copper production could reach 4 million MT. It should be added that President Dina Boluarte aimed to exceed 3 million MT in 2024.
They leave communities aside
Approach. César Gamboa, advisor of Environmental Law and Natural Resources DAR
We have a weak Government that does not demonstrate how to promote investments sustainably. It is true that we are in recession and that we need investments, although without a social license, no. It may be that the legal requirements have been met, but these projects (Conga and Tía María), precisely because of the conflicts that have been experienced there, show that it is necessary to go beyond the legal framework: have the license of the communities and citizens who will be impacted both positively and negatively.
There is mistrust because neither the authorities nor the companies have assured that the impacts will be minimal or mitigated. Until there is a different vision of mining, where there are agreements between the company, communities and Government, some projects will not be able to move forward.
They are not clear about how to address the possible conflicts that may arise from these announcements. To happily say that Conga and Tía María will take place is to ignore the violence. In the last 20 years, according to the Ombudsman’s Office, of the more than 200 social conflicts in Peru, three quarters are related to natural resources.
Source: Larepublica
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