Cusco: prior consultation for the Ccoroccohuayco mine restarts with lrsd doubts

Ten kilometers from the Antapaccay minera there is the vein called Coroccohuayco. The Glencore company intends to expand its operations with an estimated investment of US $ 590 million. The Swiss firm made progress to develop the so-called project Tintaya expansion – Coroccohuayco integration. On December 17, 2019, the National Service for Environmental Certification for Sustainable Investments (Senace) approved the Modification of the Environmental Impact Study (MEIA) of Coroccohuayco, which is the expansion of the Antapaccay mine.

However, there is resistance in some communities. Before the MEIA received the green light, there were protests, which forced the then Prime Minister Vicente Zeballos to approve, in December 2019, the implementation of a prior consultation process in the communities. When the workshops had started, the pandemic arrived and everything was suspended.

Prior consultation

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Miguel Inchaústegui, announced the restart of the process as of November 9. He said that on that day the Vice Minister of Mines, Jaime Gálvez, will go to Espinar to install the information workshops. The restart of the process occurs when spirits in Espinar are hot due to dissatisfaction in the progress of the dialogue table on the reformulation of the Framework Agreement, attention to those affected with heavy metals, among other points.

Coroccohuayco is a copper mine. Integración Coroccohuayco is estimated to have an annual production potential of up to 100,000 metric tons.

The MEIA considers 13 original communities of Espinar as part of the area of ​​influence of the mining project. The prior consultation only includes 11. These are the Huano Huano, Alto Huancané, Huancané Bajo, Tintaya Marquiri, Cala Cala, Suero y Cama, Huarca, Alto Huarca, Huisa Collana, Huisa and Anta Ccollana communities.

On August 17, these 11 communities and the Minem signed a third addendum to the Prior Consultation Plan, which included the reprogramming of the actions of the consultation stages, which was not fulfilled. On the 9th, the new schedule would be approved. The information stage, internal evaluation and dialogue are pending implementation.

Separate consultation

The Coroccohuayco execution will imply the partial resettlement of three original communities: Huano Huano, Huini Coroccohuayco and Pacopata. When Senace asked Glencore for the resettlement plan for the communities, it alleged that there is no regulation on population resettlement for mining activities. Therefore, their negotiations will be negotiations between private parties.

Huini and Pacopata are not participating in the current process. The community members ask for consultation in their territories in a differentiated way and that the content of the MEIA be discussed there.

The president of Pacopata, Felipe Kana Chuctaya, said that they disagree with the Minem holding a consultation only to approve the start of operations of the new mine, which is the final stage of the process. He demanded that the approval of the MEIA be also discussed with the communities.

Amparo action for failure to consult the MEIA

The president of Huini Coroccohuayco, Ruperto Sayco Yauri, said that the community is evaluating the implications of the restart of the prior consultation announced by Minister Inchaústegui. “I cannot give you an opinion, because we are in a meeting,” he said and excused himself from answering our questions.

In addition, Pacopata and Huini Coroccohuayco, with the sponsorship of the organizations Human Rights Without Borders, IDL and CooperAcción, filed a request for protection last year for the omission of prior consultation with the MEIA. “A hearing for oral reports must be summoned or, failing that, a sentence should be issued if there are still no writings or controversial points to discuss,” the organizations said.

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