The campaign

Mining is an important economic activity in Peru. But its growth and expansion should be limited when this activity puts at risk the health and the right to water of people, or when it causes human rights violations.

The right to investments and to work that mining companies have, cannot overrule the right of the people to be consulted when an investment, however important it might be, will severely affect their lives, security and peace. It cannot overrule their right to water, to a healthy and clean environment and to landscape. The activities of the Yanacocha mining company have already severely affected the population of Cajamarca. With its expansion, by the Conga project, the local people will even more suffer the consequences.

the Yanacocha goldmine (Flickr, user FeFe)

Together with the protest movement in Cajamarca, we defend the provincial and regional resolutions that declared the unviability of the Conga project, as well as the process of regional ecological and economical land planning. Furthermore, we condemn the repression and criminalization of social protest.We support the following demands:

1. Inviability of the Minas Conga project
Minas Conga is an expansion project of Yanacocha, the biggest gold mine in South America, owned by the U.S. based Newmont Mining Corporation. With USD 4,8 billion, the Conga project is the biggest investment in Peru mining ever. It will include two open pits, two waste rock dumps and a giant toxic tailings deposit. However, the project threatens water resources in Cajamarca, as it will disturb the headwaters of several rivers and destroy a system of four high-Andean lakes and bogs. Therefore, the people and authorities of Cajamarca want the Peruvian government to declare the project inviable.

2. Constitutional recognition of the right to water.
Having access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a human right, essential to upholding all other human rights and to life itself. However, the right to water is not yet recognized as such in Peruvian legislation. Even worse, the right to water is further weakened by activities, like the Conga project, destroying  and contaminating natural water sources. To strengthen the right to water, Congress should change the constitution in order to recognize drinking water and sanitation as a human right.

3. Legal ban on mining activities in headwaters and glacier zones.
Peru is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The arid coast area depends largely on glacial and wetland run-off for its water supply, especially during the long dry season. In the past 30 years, the country has lost 22 percent of its glacier area, increasing hydrological stress. Therefore headwaters and glacier zones should urgently be protected, and mining activities in these zones banned.

4. Legal ban on mining techniques using cyanide and mercury.
Mining uses huge amounts of toxic chemicals, contaminating the environment and putting at risk the health of current and future generations. The extraction process of gold and other ores in large scale mining facilities involves huge amounts of cyanide, while heavy metals like mercury, found alongside the valuable ores in the minerals, are often released as byproducts. Large quantities of mercury are also used in illegal mining operations, particularly in the Amazon. Mining techniques using cyanide and mercury should be immediately banned, as is the case in several other countries.

5. Moratorium on all existing mining concessions.
More than 20 million hectares, almost 19 per cent of the Peruvian territory, has been concessioned to mining, oil or gas companies, up from 7 per cent in 2005. This rapid expansion has generated  many conflicts, as surface owners, local authorities and communities, ignored during the granting process, increasingly find themselves subjected to pressure from mining companies. In order to avoid further conflicts, the government should freeze and review all existing mining concessions.

6. Right to previous consultation for all citizens.
In September 2011, the Peruvian president issued a law on the previous consultation of indigenous peoples and farmer communities. The decree implementing the law is still under discussion. While it is of utmost importance that this decree effectively safeguards the territorial rights of indigenous peoples and farmers communities, the right to previous consultation should in fact be expanded to all citizens that will be affected by mining, oil or gas projects.

Read more about the dirty side of gold mining here (English) or here (Dutch).