The Impact Of Uk Mining In Peru

PRESS RELEASE: PERU SUPPORT GROUP (UK)

The Impact of UK Mining in Peru

21st March 2006

Mining provides half of Peru's export income, totaling $8 billion in 2001. Alongside its potential to bring in foreign money, mining is often a highly disruptive activity, generating significant social and environmental impacts. With local concerns about potential impacts running high, the mining question is back on the agenda, and with UK companies holding nearly 50% of all foreign investment in mining in Peru, it is of particular interest to the UK public and Government.

The potential for mining to contribute to Peru's development and alleviate poverty is clear. However, translating Peru's mineral wealth into human development raises major questions for governments, mining companies and communities. The Peru Support Group (PSG) believes that managing this wealth effectively and ensuring the equitable distribution of the impacts and benefits of mining is a key challenge.

Such challenges are illustrated in the area of Rio Blanco, or White River, in the far north of the Peruvian Andes, close to the Ecuadorian border. It is a remote, rural area of highlands and cloud forest, rich in natural biodiversity, including the near-extinct Peruvian tapir. Most importantly, however, these balanced ecosystems supply much of northern Peru, and in particular its desert coast, with water.

Eight mineral concessions in Rio Blanco, totalling 6,472 hectares of land are being explored by Monterrico Metals, a UK mining company based in London, and advanced plans are in place to extract up to 10 million tonnes of copper ore a year.

The day before UN World Water Day, the PSG will be hosting a public meeting and discussion on the impact of UK mining in Peru, to raise awareness of the risks that the mining industry poses for Peru's natural environment and the communities who live there.