Mining protests halt 20% of copper output in world’s No. 2 producer Peru
LIMA, April 20 (Reuters) - Protests in Peru against its mighty copper industry halted production at two of its top mines accounting for 20% of national output on Wednesday, as new demonstrations targeted Glencore's Antapaccay mine.
Impoverished communities in Peru's copper-rich Andes have been staging growing protests against mining companies, complaining that the mineral wealth has not trickled down to their communities despite high international prices.
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was elected with massive support of communities in mining regions last year amid pledges to better distribute copper profits.
Residents of the Fuerabamba community entered MMG's Las Bambas copper mine last week and held a protest, which led the Chinese-owned mine to announce a suspension of operations as of Wednesday.
Peruvian government officials are holding a meeting with Fuerabamba representatives to try to diffuse the situation but had yet to reach a resolution as of Wednesday afternoon.
Southern Copper Corp's Cuajone suspended operations on Feb. 28 after residents of a nearby community shut down water access to the mine.
Peru, the world's No. 2 copper producer, extracted 2.3 million tonnes of the red metal in 2021, according to government statistics. Las Bambas produced close to 300,000 tonnes while Cuajone produced another 170,000 tonnes, totaling 20% of national copper production.
Also on Wednesday, protests started against a planned expansion at Glencore-owned Antapaccay. A source close to the company said the demonstrations had not blocked a key transport road shared by Antapaccay, Las Bambas and Hudbay's Constancia copper mine.
The road is so crucial to the Andean nation's copper industry that it is widely known as the "mining corridor" in Peru.
Protests in recent months have also targeted Constancia, as well as Antamina, Peru's largest copper mine co-owned by Glencore and BHP.
(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
