“Zafranal mining project barred from construction by a precautionary measure,” May 16, 2025

The Zafranal mining megaproject, with an estimated investment of more than USD 1.263 billion and located on the boundary between the Arequipa provinces of Castilla and Caylloma, will not be able to begin its construction phase on at least 170,000 hectares of land considered key to its operations...

Why? A precautionary measure obtained by Katherine Vásquez Rosas, who claims ownership of the property known as Fundo Huacán...

The precautionary measure orders that no construction take place and that no actions be carried out on the land. It does not annul the mining concession, but it does prohibit construction on that property...

The Vásquez family maintains that the lands—over which there is a usufruct contract signed between Autodema and the mining company—legitimately belong to them...

Zafranal, whose main shareholders are Canada’s Teck Resources Limited (80%) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (20%), had succeeded in obtaining approval for its Environmental Impact Study (EIA). However, it will not be able to move a single stone until the property dispute is resolved...

Added to this legal conflict is an underlying political and territorial dispute: Autodema, the regional authority in charge of the Majes Siguas project, has registered in its own name 93% of the territory of the district of Huancarqui, where part of the disputed lands are located...

The problem is that many of these lands—including squares, streets, and communal properties—existed before Autodema was created, which has generated overlapping land registries and for decades has prevented the formal titling of properties belonging to Huancarqui’s residents...

From the Arequipa Regional Council, two of the three members of the Territorial Planning Commission have requested the absolute nullity of the 30-year usufruct contract granted to Zafranal...

They argue that legal requirements were not met and that the authorization did not have the endorsement of the competent area of the regional government...

They also questioned how Zafranal paid a private party for lands that, in theory, belong to the State...

El Pueblo requested, through official channels, the position of the company Zafranal on this case, and the response was limited to the following statement: “Zafranal will respond as appropriate before the courts.”