Report: Environment Minister Held Talks For Job With Gold Miner

Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal held talks with gold miner Minera Yanacocha about a job offer in mid-2011, only months before his appointment to the Cabinet, according to a report by IDL-Reporteros. Pulgar-Vidal took over the ministry in early December, after protests against Yanacocha’s $4.8 billion Minas Conga project led President Ollanta Humala to reshuffle his cabinet. [...]

Barclays: Peru Needs Systematic Solution to Social Conflicts

Barclays Capital said Peru’s government needs a systematic solution to social demands in the mining sector, rather than “putting out fires” amid opposition to individual projects. “The issue is political since we have seen social demands that need to be resolved systematically or structurally and not necessarily by putting out fires,” said Barclays Capital’s Roberto Melzi, [...]

Cajamarca State of Emegency criticized by Mine Protest Leader

The regional president of Cajamarca, Gregorio Santos, criticized President Ollanta Humala’s announcement Sunday evening of a 60-day state of emergency in four of Cajamarca’s provinces in order to bring under control protests against a multi-billion dollar gold and copper project. During an interview with Ideeleradio on Monday, Santos said that Peru’s new government “is lying to the [...]

Yanacocha suspends Conga gold project amid continuing protests

Yanacocha has suspended its $4.8 billion Conga gold mine project in Cajamarca, as protests by regional leaders and peasant farming communities have continued to build up.  In a joint press conference at the government palace with Prime Minister Salomon Lerner Ghitis, the senior vice-president for South America of Newmont-Yanacocha, Carlos Santa Cruz, said the company’s decision aimed to improve a [...]

Lerner Ghitis: Govt Working on Resolving Social Conflicts

Prime Minister Salomon Lerner Ghitis said Thursday that the government is working on solutions to resolve social conflicts related to mining, agriculture and other sectors, state news agency Andina reported. “We inherited a problem from the past decade, conflicts in mining, agriculture, regions,” Lerner Ghitis said. “But I think we are advancing little by little, [...]

Death of local mayor causes panic in Choropampa, 8 years after mercury spill

The death of the mayor of Choropampa, Vicente Zarate Minchán, has triggered widespread panic in the town in the Cajamarca highlands, eight years after the June 2, 2000 mercury spill that contaminated Choropampa and two neighboring towns. Zarate, 34, died of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the [...]