“Proposed copper mine modifications spark community outcry in Peru” – March 11, 2024

… In late December 2023, when communities in the southeastern Peruvian province of Cotabambas received a copy of proposed modifications to the Las Bambas copper mine, they were at first surprised, and then frustrated. The document, which arrived between Christmas and New Year’s, contained a proposal to almost double the mining operation but lacked detailed studies on its environmental impact on aquifers, wetlands and rivers, which are crucial to the communities. Yet, they were given mere weeks to send in comments. In response, around a dozen organizations sent a letter to the agency of environmental certification for sustainable investment (SENACE), requesting they annul the amendment.

“They didn’t consult with us at all, they only sent notifications,” said Walter Contreras, a local leader of the Cotabambas Defense Front, one of several organizations that signed the letter. It was impossible to infer from the document what exactly the impacts were going to be for communities like his, which are directly in the mine’s impact zone.

The open-pit mine of Las Bambas sits at 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) above sea level. It is one of the largest copper mines in the world, producing up to 2% of the world’s copper, a critical mineral for the clean energy transition. In theory, Las Bambas can produce 320,000 metric tons of copper concentrate a year, but widespread protests over the social and environmental impacts of the mine and the transport of minerals have never allowed the mine to fulfill that potential...

Since 2015, the mine has faced frequent protests, which at times turned deadly, in some cases pushing the government to declare a state of emergency in the region in 2015, 2018 and 2022. Regular protests along the road used to transport the heavy metals have erupted since 2016 over environmental impacts and lack of compensation. At the end of 2021, a blockade in Chumbivilcas, 200 km (124 mi) from the mine, stopped operations in Las Bambas for several weeks, causing losses of $9.5 million each day. In 2022, communities blocked the ore transport road, demanding improved living conditions, and members of the Fuerabamba and Huancuire community in the Challhuahuacho district protested on the mining property itself, alleging noncompliance with social investment commitments. In 2022, the company reported that it had lost 400 days of transportation since 2016, when it began operations.

Mongabay reached out to MMG and SENACE for comments but received no reply.