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More than 64% of the 191 social conflicts recorded in recent months in Peru are linked to social and environmental concerns related to mining operations.
This is the reality that the country’s new president will have to face. According to local media, this is the case in the southern regions of Cusco, Puno, Apurímac, Moquegua, Arequipa and Tacna, which have concentrated 30% of the social unrest.
One of the main issues concerns the Southern Mining Track, which crosses the southeastern department of Cusco, the south-central department of Apurímac and reaches the southwestern department of Arequipa to the Matarani-Arequipa port, where products are shipped to Asia.
The road is used to transport concentrate from MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine, Hudbay Minerals’ Constancia copper mine, and Glencore-controlled Antapaccay copper mine.
For years, communities along the corridor have complained about pollution caused by mining trucks and have demanded compensation from the companies that use the road.
One of the most recent conflicts was launched by the Livitaca community, in Chumbivilcas province, which is asking Hudbay to update a 2016 agreement so that the miner returns about $64.6 million a year to the community, instead of the current $905,000. Negotiations between the miner, authorities and the community are ongoing.
Hudbay is also negotiating with the United Front to defend the interests of the province of Chumbivilcas, which is asking the company to cancel the latest update of the environmental impact assessment for the Constancia mine.
Glencore has also faced riots related to its operations in Peru. Technical meetings have taken place since local communities blocked roads in March, demanding earlier consultation before the Antapaccay Tintaya expansion project and integration with Coroccohuayco goes ahead. They are also demanding compensation for environmental and social damages.
Another ongoing conflict is the one launched by the peasant community of Fuerabamba, also in the province of Chumbivilcas, which is fighting against the reclassification of the road through the Yavi Yavi farm as a national road.
According to social activists in Fuerabamba, MMG Las Bambas built this road without asking permission from the community, and although some agreements have been signed, there are still outstanding issues, so negotiations are ongoing.
In the southwestern region of Arequipa, the construction of Southern Copper’s Tía María mine has caused unrest among residents of the Tambo Valley community, who say the operation will pollute the environment and have negative impacts on their farmland.
In the same region, the Zafranal copper-gold project, 80% owned by Teck Resources and 20% by Mitsubishi, is also facing some community opposition, as is Fortuna Silver Mines’ Caylloma project for silver, gold, zinc and lead.
Also in the Tambo Valley, a technical negotiating table had to be set up recently after people from the Santiago de Pachas community blocked the southern Pan-American road, protesting water pollution caused by the Florencia Tucari mine.
Florencia Tucari, owned by local company Aruntani, is in the process of closing, but its waste is said to pollute the Coralaque River, which flows from the southeastern Moquegua department to the Tambo Valley.
Although the conflict dates back to 2017, it has been revived recently, requiring government intervention to address people’s demands.
Other longstanding struggles are resurfacing, with people in the southeastern department of Puno protesting the pollution of the Ramis, Coata, Llallimayo, and Suches rivers, attributed to both formal and informal mining operations.
