STORY: :: Lima, Peru
:: November 25, 2024
:: Artisanal miners protest plans to end a program that lets them operate informally
:: The program expires in December, and critics say it’s let illegal mining grow
Pedro Yaranga, Risk management specalist
“The registry of formalization of informal miners has been around for about 12 years or a little more, it is a process for the formalization of artisanal miners. Unfortunately until now they have not been formalized, not because the artisanal miners do not want to, but because the process is very slow and on top of that, it has a series of requirements that an artisanal miner could never meet”
“If there are these interests from the government and politicians, it will not be solved. This is going to be a time bomb that could have regrettable costs in the following years”
A government bill sent to Congress last week gave small-scale miners a six-month period to formalize their activities after the current program expires on Dec. 31, but miners say that is not enough time.
Hundreds have set up tents near Congress since last week and thousands of miners in uniforms and plastic helmets have blocked the main coastal highway in the southern regions of Ica and Arequipa, leaving hundreds of freight and passenger vehicles stuck for up to five kilometers. The REINFO program, initiated in 2012 to temporarily permit artisanal miners while awaiting formalization, has extended multiple times with 85,000 registered miners but only 20% formalized, leading to mining in prohibited areas and attacks on formal mines resulting in at least 30 deaths over the past two years.
Pedro Yaranga, an analyst specializing in social conflicts in Peru, said that there are strong competing interests between Congress and small-scale miners that could escalate. “If this isn’t resolved, it’s going to be a time bomb,” Yaranga said.
Peru produced 99.7 million grams of gold in 2023, a 2.8% year-on-year rise. According to the government, small artisanal mines extract around 40% of that, but small-scale mining groups put the figure at 50%.
