Operations at Southern Copper's Cuajone mine in Peru have been suspended for 15 days as locals continue to block the company's access to reservoirs and other critical supplies, the country's mining and energy industry body revealed.
Lokunin hófst 28. febrúar þegar Southern Copper ákvað að skipta um 50- ára gamla vatnspípu sem veitti nálægum samfélögum vatni.
Að sögn Raul Jacob, forstjóra Southern Copper og núverandi forseta Peruvian Association of Mines, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE), er verið að skipta um sérleyfi til námunnar.
Jacob sagði staðbundnum fjölmiðlum að hann hafi skjöl sem sanna að flutningurinn hafi verið fluttur til samfélagsleiðtoga og svæðis- og landsyfirvalda.
"We were taken aback by the blockade," Jacob said.
Starfsmenn Cuajone námunnar, sem starfa meira en 5,000 manns, hafa beðið stjórnvöld um að miðla deilum milli fyrirtækisins og heimamanna, með þeim rökum að störf þeirra og líf séu í hættu.
"The residents' refusal to restore water supply to Cuajone and release the railway has prevented us from resuming operations at the mine," Southern Copper said in an emailed statement.
SNMPE said the protesters were demanding 5bn in compensation and a 5 per cent share of the company's profits.
Pablo O'Brien, a mining expert at Velocity Trade Capital, said it was more than that, describing the situation as "very serious".
"No one can just turn off the water supply to a group of people for whatever reason. This situation unfortunately demonstrates the current inability of states to mediate in resolving conflicts, "O 'Brien said.
Peru is the world's second-largest copper producer after neighboring Chile, and mining is a major source of tax revenue. Residents of nearby communities have increasingly protested against the mines, claiming they cause pollution without contributing enough to the local economy.
Southern Copper, hluti af Grupo Mexíkó, er eitt af koparfyrirtækjum með stærsta jarðefnaforða og Cuajone er önnur stærsta náma þess í Perú.
The miner's copper production fell 4.3 per cent in 2021 and recently said it expected a further decline this year.
Árið 2022 gerir Southern Copper ráð fyrir að framleiða 922,000 tonn af málmi sem notaður er í byggingar- og rafbíla.
"After this year, we believe our 2023 production will rebound to 1 million tonnes of copper," it said in its February earnings statement. By the end of the decade, as our organic growth projects mature, we expect copper production to reach 1.8 million tonnes.
China Southern er að þróa verkefni upp á 2,8 milljarða í Perú. Ef Michiquillay og Los Chancas verkefnin sem eru að byrja eru tekin með, þá fer talan upp í tæpa 8 milljarða.
Protests have hit several of Peru's biggest mining companies since leftist President Pedro Castillo took office in July after winning an election with overwhelming support in the country's impoverished mining regions.
Roads used by MMG's Las Bambas copper mine to transport its metal have been intermittently blocked by residents demanding financial contributions from the company.
Last year protests also disrupted Antamina, the country's largest copper mine, which is jointly owned by BHP billiton (33.75 percent), Glencore (33.75 percent), Teck Resources (22.75 percent) and Mitsubishi (10 percent).
Námur Glencore (LON: GLEN), Hudbady Minerals TSX, NYSE: HBM) og Hochschild Mining urðu einnig fyrir áhrifum.
Social unrest in the country's mining areas has deepened global fears of a looming copper shortage.
Samkvæmt áætlunum CRU Group þarf kopariðnaðurinn að eyða meira en 100 milljörðum til að mæta 4,7 milljón tonna skorti á ári fyrir árið 2030.
