{"id":50361618,"date":"2022-12-16T19:01:26","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T19:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogochino.net\/?p=61618"},"modified":"2023-09-15T13:59:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T12:59:01","slug":"361618-peru-mining-corridor-impact-on-communities-copper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/361618-peru-mining-corridor-impact-on-communities-copper\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How are we going to live?\u2019: The impact of mining on communities in Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"

Copper is big business for Peru. The country is one of the world\u2019s largest copper producers, second only to Chile, and with the metal representing nearly 30%<\/a> of its total exports, no single product is more important to the national purse. Some of the world\u2019s largest copper reserves are found along Peru\u2019s \u201cmining corridor\u201d that stretches almost 400 kilometres across the country\u2019s south, including the Las Bambas mine that alone accounts for 2% of global supply.<\/p>\n

But in spite of these economic gains, the industry poses difficulties for local communities, for whom copper seems to bring constant conflict<\/a> and few benefits. A September report<\/a> by the Peruvian ombudsman revealed a total of 136 active \u201csocio-environmental\u201d conflicts in the country, accounting for more than two thirds of all social conflicts it recorded, with most cases linked to mining activity.

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Map: Bel\u00e9n Sampietro \/ Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/div>The complaints raised by affected communities cover issues ranging from the contamination of drinking water for humans and animals, to the dust generated by mining activities, among other grievances. But relations between residents and companies have also become more complex over time: in some cases, the communities have begun to demand shares in mining projects, or to receive compensation from their activities.<\/p>\n

Di\u00e1logo Chino travelled along the corridor to speak to several communities about the impacts mining sites have had in their towns and villages.<\/p>\n

Disagreements at Las Bambas<\/h2>\n

On arriving in the Indigenous community of Chic\u00f1ahui, located in the province of Cotabambas, in Peru\u2019s Apur\u00edmac region, what is most striking is not the view of its vast fields, nor its animals, nor the crisp blue Andean sky, but the metallic stench that fills the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you smell that? Sometimes it smells like this, and there are other days when it is even stronger,\u201d says local resident Jovita Boza, clutching her young daughter in her arms.

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