Region of Cajamarca. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons)

Two districts in the Cajamarca region in northern Peru will hold a referendum on 7th July to determine the future of the Conga mining project.

Representatives of the two districts travelled to the capital Lima to ask President Ollanta Humala to cancel the mining project, which they say will contaminate local water supplies and impact on the region’s biodiversity.

The Cajamarca Unitary Struggle Command (CUL), which is helping to organise the referendum, also said that it would maintain a permanent protest in the area to block any further mining activity in the meantime.

The ombudsman of Peru, Eduardo Vega, declared last week that the regional government did not have the authority to stage a referendum over the Conga project, as medium and large-scale mining activities are controlled by the national Ministry for Energy and Mines.

Representatives of the mining company Yanacocha say that a referendum would set a bad precedent not only for the Conga project but for the entire mining industry in Peru.

The debate over mining has damaged relations between the central government and the government of Cajamarca. Representatives of both met in January for the first time in six months, though no agreement on the Conga project was reached.

The Conga mining project, set to be the largest foreign investment in Peru, has been stalled since November 2011, due to public opposition to the project. In July last year protests over the project left three dead and 21 injured, leading the government to call a State of Emergency.

The General Confederation of Workers (CGTP) in Peru is marching today in solidarity with the anti-mining movement in Cajamarca. The CGTP has called a “national day of struggle” and is demanding the removal of Prime Minister Oscar Valdés.

Mario Huamán, secretary general of the CGTP, has said marches will take place in the capital, Lima as well as in ten other locations across the north and south of Peru.

“We will not be striking,” Huamán said. “This is a set of activities by teachers unions, construction workers, rural workers, young people women and leftist organisations.”

He added that the marches were in solidarity with “the struggles of the people of Cajamarca in rejecting the Congo mining project planned by the Newmont company from the United States.”

The march coincides with the second day of demonstrations taking place in Cajarmarca organised by the Frente de Defense. The North Andean region and its people will suffer from the project, according to the group.

Earlier this month Cajamarca was declared under a state of emergency following a police crackdown in which five people died and 21 people were injured.

“Valdés is to blame for all the social upheaval happening in the country. It is due to the repressive policies he has applied in order to bring economic benefits to the hands of a privileged few,” Haumán said.

The union will also ask Peruvian president Ollanta Humala to “find solutions to the unresolved issues; layoffs, rising costs of living and public safety.”

Yesterday, Humala announced his intention to set up a working group with representatives opposed to the mine in Cajamarca. The group will be mediated by two religious representatives from the Catholic Church, Bishop Miguel Cabrejos and Father Gastón Garatea.This announcement follows a meeting held by Humala with two groups protesting the mine.

Protests began in 2011 against the North American mining company, Newmont, which plans to dry four lakes in the high regions of Cajamarca to extract copper and gold. Last May, Cajamarcans declared a protest with no defined end point.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has given the green light to a controversial mining project in Cajamarca today. The Congo goldmine project, run by Newmont has faced mass opposition due to potential health and environmental risks. However, today the president announced that Newmont has agreed to stricter environmental measures and that the project will go ahead.

Local community and opposition groups continue to stage protests against the development, maintaining that the mine will have a devastating impact on the local community.

“We had already made plans for Newmont and we welcome the fact that Newmont agrees with our proposals,” said Humala following a night of protests which left six people wounded and seven civilians under arrest.

Newmont has agreed to measures which they claim will increase the water supply to the region. The president of Yanacocha, the company managing the Congo scheme under Newmont today said “before constructing the mine, we will construct artificial reservoirs and lakes which will quadruple the volume of water”.

The US$4.8bn project will be Peru’s biggest mining investment ever and Newmont claims it would produce between 580,000 and 680,000 ounces of gold annually as well as guaranteeing year round water supplies. However, environmental and community groups claim that the benefits of Peru’s mining boom have passed them by.

One of the most vociferous campaigners against the project has been Wilfredo Saavedra, president of the Frente de Defensa Ambiental de Cajamarca. He has reacted furiously to Humala’s decision and earlier in the week derided attempts by the regional president of Cajamarca, Gregorio Santos, to negotiate on the scheme.

Saavedra is joined by community groups who feel they have suffered at the hands of Peru’s mining industry. Local business owners have been on strike this week calling for recognition of the devastating impact the plans have had on local businesses, some of which have had all reservations cancelled this year due to the proposals.

Peru is the sixth largest producer of gold and second largest producer of copper. However, poverty remains a constant issue and many feel the benefits of the country’s natural resources have been dealt disproportionately across the country.

Social organisations in the Peruvian region of Cajamarca will meet today to discuss their position on the government’s recent decision to continue with the Conga mining project.

The organisations believe that the venture, which involves drying up four lagoons in order to extract copper and gold in the highlands of Cajamarca, would affect the water system in the region.

The meeting comes following Peruvian president Ollanta Humala’s announcement last week confirming that the plans for Conga project will continue.

The government’s decision comes after the completion earlier this month. of a Study of Environmental Impact began in February, which assessed the mining project.

Leaders of the Front for Environmental Defence in Cajamarca and of the Land and Freedom organisation have rejected the president’s statement.

Humala announced that the project would create 10,000 new jobs, a fund for public works and added that it will not affect two of the four lagoons used for extracting gold, among other requirements.

The concession behind the mining project, the company Yanacocha, announced that it was only in favour of the extent of care for two of the lakes.

Upon completion of the survey, various social organizations in Cajamarca resumed protests against the implementation of the Conga project, and against the militarization of the region.

Story courtesy of Agencia Púlsar (link to http://www.agenciapulsar.org/), the AMARC-ALC news agency.

Minas Conga, known as a copper-gold mine project, is going to be reviewed by international consultants, according to a statement given by Prime Minister Oscar Valdés last Monday.

“The international consultation for the Conga project’s environmental impact study is going ahead one way or another,” said Valdés during a conference yesterday.

The Minas Conga project was suspended last November after protests in the Cajamarca region that say the project will harm the local water supplies.

Earlier this month President Ollanta Humala declared state-of-emergency in some parts of Cajamarta that were affected by the demonstrations, ending talks between the government and protest leaders.

Valdés and other cabinet members met last Monday with Cajamarca Regional President Gregorio Santos, one of the main opponents of Conga.

The talks became tense after Valdés turned down a request made by Santos to invite leaders of civil society groups that lead the protests.

The meeting ended when Santos refused to sign an agreement with Valdés to call for a meeting on Wednesday to choose the international consultants. The agreement also called for a meeting on 13 January to discuss development works in Cajamarca.

Valdés said “the government’s activities are not going to stop.”

Meanwhile, Santos and the protests leaders sent a letter to the president saying they are still open for continuing a dialogue, but they want no further talks with Valdés.

The protests leaders requested that Humala appoints another government representative for the next meetings.

Conga is Peru’s biggest mining project, with an investment of over US$ 4.8 billion.

At least 30 were killed and 20 injured in a bus crash in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru, on Saturday. The accident occurred 900km from the capital of Lima, while the bus was en route to the city of Querocoto.

Recent rains had flooded the mountain road the bus was taking and the poor visibility of pre-dawn and lack of grip caused the driver to lose control and the bus to skid off the road and tumble into a ravine 150m below.

Police chief Marcial Gonzales Perez spoke on local radio station CPN informing that six children were amongst the fatalities. Rescuers helped to transport the injured to hospitals in nearby towns, including Chiclayo, whilst an investigation into the accident was launched.

In 2008, around 875 people were killed and 5,000 injured in road accidents in Peru, according to national police figures.

Accounting for all the passengers might be difficult, according to local media, who say the bus company did not keep complete records.

It is hard to control the large number of illegal bus companies when more than half of Peruvians live below the poverty line and would rather pay less for a seat and take a chance with their own lives.