In a separate statement, the company said it had reached an agreement in September with the municipality of Velille to finance sustainable development projects for up to 1.25 million soles ($348,000) over two years, as well as making spot payments to families impacted by the effects of covid-19.
“Unfortunately, the people carrying out the blockade reject any possibility of dialogue, hampering the economic reactivation process this country needs,” the statement said.
MMG withdrew the mine’s guidance due to the covid-19 pandemic
On November 30th, a strike was launched by the Challhuahuacho district’s Farmers Federation, the Defense Front and the Youth Federation. They demanded that the national government complied with Supreme Decree N° 005-2016-PCM, which sets as a priority Challhuahuacho’s economic and social development, and the payment of a mining canon starting in 2021.
The mining canon comprises 50% of the corporate income tax collected from mining firms by the national government and should be transferred to provincial and district municipalities where extractive operations take place.
In a communiqué sent out to the El Comercio newspaper, MMG said that Las Bambas had nothing to do with the protesters’ claims, as they were to be dealt with by the Peruvian government and the Challhuahuacho district.
The mine said blockades of public roads have disrupted its operations on 95 days of the last year.
“We call on the national authorities to enforce the rule of law and guarantee the development of our operations,” it said in a statement.
Las Bambas is the world’s ninth-largest copper mine. For 2020, it was expected to produce between 350,000 and 370,000 tonnes of copper concentrate or about 2% of the global projected production. However, back in April, MMG withdrew the mine’s guidance due to the covid-19 pandemic and did not provide new full-year output guidance.
(With files from Reuters)
