"Las Bambas mine inks deal in Peru with more job offers to avoid blockades" 20 January 2022

MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine on Wednesday inked a deal with local residents in Peru with increased job offers for locals in a bid to avoid future road blockades that could disrupt operations.

At a tense meeting in the Andean community of Cancahuani attended by Reuters, some leaders from the Chumbivilcas province agreed to a deal that will allow them to serve Las Bambas with 14 copper-carrying trucks, 14 pickups and a contract to maintain the road.

A previous offer included 12 pickups and a smaller road maintenance contract.

The deal is the latest peace offering from Las Bambas to future road blockades at its highly contentious copper corridor, which traverses impoverished communities which say the mine’s presence does not benefit them financially.

Residents have blocked the Las Bambas road on and off for over 400 days since the mine started operations in 2016, and most recently forced the mine to suspend operations in December for several weeks. [...]