A worker strike at the Uchucchacua mine, owned by Peru’s largest publicly held precious metals miner Compañia de Minas Buenaventura, has stymied operations for an unknown period, the operator confirmed on Sept. 23.
The strike, which first took hold on Sept. 13 at midnight local time, has included the blocking of access to the mine, but the company said all essential work is continuing without interruption, including maintenance, functionality, water drainage, tailings dam inspections and water treatment work.
“The strike results from the community’s claim that Buenaventura has violated agreements signed in 2012 and 2018. However, Buenaventura has complied with all related commitments and obligations,” officials said, adding that it has communicated such during meetings held every two weeks with representatives of the surrounding community.
Buenaventura said it has proposed a meeting with community representatives to support a productive dialog and resulting solution to end the strike.
Miners News reached out for an update on strike activity and progress made, but no response was received by press time.
The operator said last week that, should a solution not come to light within a matter of days, it would expect to have to report a “negative effect” on its upcoming third quarter results.
“However, should this be necessary, Buenaventura will revise its current mine plan accordingly to mitigate adverse impacts on its operations and recover any related shortfall over the balance of the year as well as any potential residual effects on 2022 results,” company officials said.
Buenaventura currently operates several mines in Peru aside from Uchucchacua, including (Orcopampa, Julcani, Tambomayo, El Brocal, La Zanja and Coimolache. It also owns 43.65% of Minera Yanacocha, a partnership with Newmont Mining, and 19.58% of Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde.
Source: Buenaventura