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FILE PHOTO: Peru communities reject latest proposal to end Las Bambas mine conflicts
LIMA, April 18 (Archyde.com) – MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru has suspended operations following residents of a nearby community entered the company’s property as part of a protest, it told reporters on Monday. Raúl Jacob, president of the local mining chamber SNMPE.
Las Bambas represents 2% of the world’s copper supply and is subject to recurrent outages by nearby communities, who demand higher financial contributions from the mine.
Jacob said that last week 130 people from the Fuerabamba community invaded Las Bambas, causing operations to be suspended.
Archyde.com was unable to contact a representative of the Fuerabamba community, a Quechua-speaking indigenous community that was resettled a few years ago to make way for Las Bambas in the Apurimac region. A Las Bambas representative had no immediate comment.
Las Bambas is a member of SNMPE, which represents the country’s largest mines. Peru is the world’s second largest producer of copper.
The new conflict in Las Bambas comes at a time when Southern Copper Corp.’s Cuajone mine has been suspended since late February following residents of nearby communities cut off the company’s water supply.
(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun. Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)