A new poll by company GFK has found that national support for Newmont Mining’s massive Minas Conga gold project, located in Peru’s Cajamarca region, is increasing, daily El Comercio reported.
The poll of 1,400 people, conducted between April 19 and April 21, shows that 54 percent support the project, which is up 6 percent from March.
Opposition to the project is down 5 percent to 36 percent, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.
The increase in support for the project follows the government’s announcement that it would back the mining project with changes to its environmental impact study. The changes were proposed in a report that was put together by three international consultants who were hired by the government to review Minas Conga’s EIS.
The government hoped the review would help ease a bitter conflict over the development of Minas Conga. Local communities and politicians, including Cajamarca’s regional president, have held protests calling for the project to be cancelled, based on concerns related to its impact on the region’s sources of water.
Minas Conga will require an investment of up to $4.8 billion, making it Peru’s biggest private-sector investment project.
