However, in a region where distrust of mining projects is common and Chinese investors have struggled<\/a> to win local support, the project has been met with scepticism among many residents and NGOs, with some raising concerns over its potential impacts on local environments and people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcona is a fishing village some 530 kilometres south of Peru\u2019s capital, Lima. Alongside its iron ore reserves, it is home to two protected natural areas: the San Fernando and Punta San Juan national reserves. Both offer refuge to the world\u2019s largest colony of the threatened Humboldt penguin, and other species such as sea lions, anchovies, crabs and the endangered blue whale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposal for a port terminal in this locality is not new. In 2005, the Peruvian state declared<\/a> it a project of \u201cpublic necessity and utility\u201d, given the \u201cimportant commercial activities\u201d in the area. By 2018, two Chinese companies \u2013 Shougang Hierro Peru, a subsidiary of the state-owned Shougang Group, and Jinzhao Mining Peru, a subsidiary of a Chinese construction firm \u2013 had formally expressed their interest in building it, according to Peru\u2019s Ministry of Energy and Mines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was not until March this year that Jinzhao won<\/a> the tender for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the port for 30 years, with investments of USD 405 million expected. The company will also operate Pampa de Pongo, an iron mine under development some 40 kilometres east of Marcona that is home to some of the largest iron ore deposits in Latin America, from which it plans to export more than 20 million tonnes of iron per year<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The new terminal will reportedly be a multi-purpose port, featuring a dedicated dock for the handling of minerals, according to the ProInversi\u00f3n<\/a>, a government agency that seeks to attract foreign private investment in Peru. It is said that this will enable the activation of at least nine iron, copper, zinc and molybdenum mining projects in the country\u2019s south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government has said the port will begin operations in 2028, and could handle some 19 million tonnes of cargo each year. Over 35 million tonnes passes annually through Callao, the country\u2019s largest port, while Chancay foresees the handling of some 34 million tonnes. Authorities claim Marcona could eventually have the capacity to handle 40 million tonnes each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the touted benefits of the new port and the mining projects it could enable, previous experiences with mining companies and their track record in the region have aroused scrutiny and scepticism among some observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, 72%<\/a> of Marcona district is reportedly occupied by such concessions, mostly held by Peruvian company Marcobre and Shougang Hierro Peru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter was founded in 1992, when nationalised mine Hierro Peru (Iron Peru) was bought by the Chinese company following its opening to privatisation by then-president Alberto Fujimori. Shougang has since faced penalties for a series of labour<\/a> and environmental<\/a> infractions, receiving 98 sanctions for the latter, according to the environment ministry\u2019s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These have included the leakage of particulate matter from crude oil and iron concentrate stores, and an environmental emergency<\/a> that was declared due to a broken pipe with highly toxic mine tailings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shougang \u201chas distinguished itself as one of the main violators of human rights in the country,\u201d claims Julia Cuadros, a researcher on Chinese investment in Peru and Latin America for the NGO CooperAcci\u00f3n. She suggests that \u201cit is natural to fear a repetition of the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the OEFA database of sanctions, Shougang is the mining company with the 17th highest number of infractions in Peru; a 2017 Boston University study<\/a> highlighted that Chinese companies have received comparatively fewer environmental sanctions than other firms. However, it is in labour relations that Shougang has faced its strongest challenges, encountering repeated strikes<\/a> and violent protests<\/a> in its three decades in Marcona, amid worker discontent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Boston University report points to difficult relations between the company and the Marcona community. \u201cObjectively, Shougang has not performed significantly worse in terms of labour standards or environmental impact than its Peruvian or international counterparts,\u201d it states, but highlights how it \u201chas not won over the hearts and minds of their neighbours\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the fishers, the impact of pollution by mining companies has been felt, for example, through the scarcity of red sea urchins<\/a> locally, which had in recent years become an increasingly popular export<\/a>. Their number is said to have fallen as a result of overpopulation of an invasive type of algae. \u201cThe strong wind from Marcona makes the iron fall into the sea and it is a mineral that causes these invasive algae to reproduce aggressively,\u201d says Juan Carlos Saavedra, a member of a Marcona artisanal fisher community who has been diving and fishing for 18 years. \u201cWe just want to avoid the same thing happening with the new projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some locals and NGOs fear similar challenges at the Marcona port as have been seen during the construction of the upcoming mega-port of Chancay, 80 kilometres from Lima. According to the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law<\/a> (SPDA), the environmental impact study for Chancay, an investment by Chinese company Cosco International, has not sufficiently considered all the adverse impacts, including its measures to protect adjacent wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a 2021 report<\/a>, Dialogue Earth highlighted the damage to nearby houses that had occurred during blasting linked to the port\u2019s construction, as well as the concerns among local residents about the possible effects on the nearby Santa Rosa wetland. During a later report<\/a> from the town in 2023, observers told how the company had launched legal proceedings against inhabitants who had opposed the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cosco told Dialogue Earth that they only sought to prosecute those who had \u201cattacked the company\u2019s image\u201d, and highlighted compensation schemes they have offered to residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The awarding of the new Marcona terminal to Jinzhao has also taken place amidst an alleged case of corruption<\/a>, said to involve the general manager of its Peruvian business, as well as senior government figures and state officials, and the exchange of political favours. Jos\u00e9 \u00c1vila Herrera, a former member of the National Board of Justice, allegedly negotiated with former justice minister Felix Chero to secure favours, including to supposedly aid Jinzhao in gaining control of land to build the Marcona port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The head of the Jinzhao port project, Edison Poma, distanced the company from the allegations, claiming<\/a> in an interview that this was instead a case of confusion \u201cdue to a lack of communication between state entities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researcher Cuadros suggests concerns about the involvement of Chinese companies in corruption cases. \u201cSuch lobbying would be something very obscure and, although companies of other nationalities also do it, the problem is that when it is an investment as large as this one, the impact is also large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several Chinese companies have faced investigation in corruption cases in Latin America, including in Bolivia<\/a> and Ecuador<\/a>, which have contributed to calls for the country\u2019s government to help ensure accountability for companies operating overseas \u2013 efforts that are reportedly beginning to progress<\/a> within China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The environmental impact study of the Marcona mega-port has also proven controversial among some locals. In recent years, Jinzhao has carried out a detailed study, which was approved<\/a> in 2023 by Senace, the national environmental certification body. But fishers say that this was not well received locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not against the investment,\u201d says Espinoza, who is president of the town\u2019s artisanal fishing community group, which brings together over 1,500 local fishers. He expresses reservations around the involvement of a Chinese business, claiming that \u201cthe issue is with the Chinese companies. If Jinzhao doesn\u2019t do this study properly, it will be the same [outcome] as with Shougang.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA new mega-port<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>Fears over mining expansion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>New project, new doubts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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