"Peru PM says state of emergency would be 'last resort' as Las Bambas mine stops operations", 16 December 2021

Peru's prime minister Mirtha Vasquez said that declaring a state of emergency would be a "last resort" to defuse a road blockade that led miner MMG Ltd (1208.HK) to suspend operations at its Las Bambas copper mine... "We are trying to reach an understanding... but when all dialogue options are exhausted we will probably have to evaluate how we will restore the rule of law," Vasquez said...

The mine stopped operations after it failed to reach an agreement with the local community that has blocked a transport road used by the facility for almost 30 days.

"The Las Bambas mining operation has already stopped," Las Bambas head of corporate affairs Carlos Castro said at a news conference. "The (last) plant that has been reducing its processing will end production on Saturday." The Chinese-owned mine started operations in 2016 and has been a flashpoint of protests and road blockades since it began.

The current blockade has been in place since Nov. 20 by residents of Chumbivilcas province who complain that the mineral wealth of the mine simply bypasses them and want the company to provide more jobs and money for the area...

President Pedro Castillo is in a delicate position. On the one hand, he has given support to the communities, who strongly backed him at the last election... On the other, the government needs the income and investment that mines like Las Bambas represent...

Chumbivilcas and Las Bambas reached a preliminary agreement in October for jobs for residents and economic contributions. But talks have since reached an impasse, leading to the current blockade...