Yanacocha mine

After 2 weeks of protests and road blocks that shut down the city of Cajamarca, Peru, the Minister of Energy and Mines met the protestors' demands and withdrew Newmont Mining Company's permit for mining on Mount Quilish. 

The Yanacocha Mine, operated by Newmont Mining Company, is the largest gold mine in Latin America and the second-largest in the world. 

Community organizations consider the Minister's September 16 announcement a major victory in their long struggle to protect the water sheds at Mount Quilish.  “This act makes history because the just demands of the people have been heard by the authorities.  The struggle for the defense of our rights doesn't stop here; now we have the opportunity to begin to build a democratic history in a framework of dialogue and agreement,” stated the community organization GRUFIDES, one of the protest organizers. 

However local people are ready to go back into action, promising to block roads in protest if Mount Quilish is not declared a mining-free area within the next two months.

The agreement signed by protest organizers and the Minister of Energy and Mines states that Newmont will have to win the consent of the community if wants to pursue its goal of mining on Mount Quilish.  It will also need to fund an independent hydrological study to determine what impacts mining would have on Cajamarca's water supply and water quality. 

Now is a great time to put more pressure on Newmont and the International Finance Corporation, which holds 5 % of Yanacocha shares, to formally recognize the right of local communities to “free, prior and informed consent.”  Mining-affected communities around the world are demanding this right.

The campaign continues: write to Newmont directly at: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/cerroquilish

more info : http://globalresponse.org/

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