The road seizures have once again affected mining, since yesterday the blockades in the Southern Mining Corridor were resumed and several units in the sector were affected. one of them was Las Bambas (Apurimac)which ended up suspending its operations according to what its owner, MMG, had announced on Sunday.
The blockade in question is located at the end of the mining corridor, in the Condoroma district, in the Espinar province of Cusco, and also affects two other major mining operations: Glencore’s Antapaccay and Hudbay’s Constancia, both in the region. Cusco.
The interruption in the road has restricted the passage of vehicles from the aforementioned operations whose production is equivalent, according to the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE), to 30% of copper concentrates nationwide.
THE BAMBAS
One of the most critical situations is observed in Las Bambas, which had warned on Sunday, through a statement, that if the conditions of road blocks and consequent depletion of supplies in the mine persisted, they would choose to suspend copper production at starting yesterday, February 1st. And the conditions were met.
Through a statement, MMG had reported that “following transport interruptions that affected both incoming and outgoing traffic”, the company had “been forced to initiate a progressive slowdown of its operation in Las Bambas due to shortages of critical supplies.
The current situation that the mine is going through has also affected the families of thousands of workers. This is because although there are 8,500 workers who will be affected, the stoppage itself could harm a total of more than 75,000 people who work directly or indirectly with Las Bambas, according to estimates made at the end of 2021 when the mine went through a similar problem.
ANTAPACCAY
In the case of Antapaccay, the affectation has been experienced since January 4 due to road blocks that prevent the adequate transfer of personnel and the supply of supplies, including materials for mining activity and food for workers. However, the situation worsened after a group of people violently entered the facilities on January 12 and 13, burned two vehicles and even went to the rest area for mine personnel.
This situation led the mine to begin to progressively reduce its operating capacity and by January 19 it was operating with only 38% of its capacity in terms of workforce and contractors. Later, on the 21st of that same month, the company announced the temporary suspension of its operations.
The same company has advanced that this could also affect 70% of the canon and royalties from Cusco, since the mining company contributes with said proportion of those transfers.
Another of the effects could also be felt by the more than 100 local companies with which it contracts services for approximately S/220 million a year.
IMPACT IN SIGHT
The blockades and the suspension of mining operations would harm the growth of the sector in January, the result of which could contrast significantly with that of December, due to the fact that metal mining boosted the mining and hydrocarbons sector in the last month of 2022, according to the latest report. of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI).
This sector had managed to grow 9.34% compared to the same month of 2021 thanks to the push of mining, which had managed to grow 11.05% in December. This last result was attributed by the INEI to “the higher volumes produced of iron (99.4%), copper (19.2%), lead (3.2%) and tin (2.3%), enough to offset the falls in molybdenum (- 12.1%), silver (-6.4%), gold (-4.0%) and zinc (-2.7%).
Keep in mind
The Cusco region loses S/2.5 million per day in canons and royalties for each day not worked, according to Antapaccay estimates.
The districts of Espinar (Cusco) are not receiving S/540,000 a day for their municipal budget due to the stoppage of activities.
On January 19, Hudbay’s Constancia mine facilities were attacked, suffering equipment fires and damage to haulage trucks.
Iván Arenas: “We cannot relativize what is happening”
Both Antapaccay and Las Bambas and Constancia, which are the three most important mines, have suffered in recent days from the violent hordes that have not protested peacefully, but have entered violently and above all have damaged private property.
How far does vandalism and the unreasonableness of this type of demonstration go? They could have a legitimate matrix, but they have come to burn machinery and vehicles that are not even from the company, but from local suppliers.
There is a lot of middle class around the mining corridor, who are not millionaires, they are not poor or extremely poor, but they are hooked on this mining economy. Many of them have personal or communal businesses that are billing a world-class chain.
What must be taken into account is that the State, and by this I mean the Executive, the Public Ministry, the Judiciary and obviously the Prosecutor’s Office and the military and police forces, should protect this area where between 35% and 40% of the national copper. We cannot relativize the things that are happening in this part of the mining corridor. Do we want them to enter Las Bambas? It has already stopped working.
In the end, the problem is not just Antapaccay or Las Bambas and the mining corridor, but it becomes a national security problem.
