Social conflicts undermine advances in Peru's mining industry

Over the weekend, the Peruvian Presidential Council of Ministers (PCM) announced that, to date, 70,000 miners have entered the country’s mining formalization process. The Peruvian government’s mining formalization plan has been widely mocked for having a negligible impact on the country’s legions of artisanal miners. Nonetheless, the program will be crucial to reducing the environmental impact of artisanal mining.

However, the Council of Ministers admitted that of the 70,000 miners who started the process, just 30,000 miners have continued with the process. As a result, and also due to the growth of illegal mining, the Peruvian government has increased its kinetic activities against illegal mining throughout the country.

In addition to illegal mining, social conflicts also greatly held back the Peruvian mining industry in 2015. According to the Peruvian government, in 2015, there were 211 social conflicts in the country, of which 143 were active and 68 were latent. Most were concentrated in the departments of Apurímac, Áncash, and Puno. The media report noted that despite the large number of conflicts, during the last two months of 2015, no people were injured or killed in social conflicts.

In other news, Peruvian presidential candidate Alfredo Barnechea, in an interview with Gestión, argued that Peru needs to transform itself into an industrialized country through large investments in infrastructure. As for mining, Barnechea criticized the lack of vision and leadership from the Peruvian government in regards to mining.