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By: Meghan Walsh
March 05, 2014
"...Here in the Andean mountains, amid the high grassy plains, there are two distinctions of people: those who have found economic prosperity from the presence of gold, and those who have felt the social and ecological fabrics that once held this community together worn away by the invasion of corporate interests.
Protestors march at Lake Perol in June against Conga mining project. Photo by: Meghan Walsh.
Conga, which the message on the mountain decries, is a $5 billion gold and copper mine slated to begin 20 years of excavation in 2016. Conga will rev up just as another massive mining operation that reshaped the region is winding down. The same companies behind Conga—Colorado-based Newmont is the majority stakeholder, followed by Peru's Buenaventura—also manage Minera Yanacocha, a repository that has yielded more than $7 billion worth of ore over the past two decades.
Yanacocha has been a source of social and environmental turmoil throughout its tenure. Many of the locals, afraid that history is about to repeat itself, have spent the past several years dedicated to driving investors away. Demonstrators halted Yanacocha's attempts to sprawl out in the past, and their virulent protests against Conga prompted the Peruvian president to temporarily suspend construction, so it seemed as if the opposition might prevail. But as time passes it's becoming more apparent the project will continue as scheduled. So the question now is will Conga be another Yanacocha? Or will it help Cajamarcans finally rise out of poverty?
Mining does have the potential to bolster economic development in impoverished areas. But as Leonith Hinojosa, a research fellow at University of Manchester's School of Environment and Development, wrote in an online debate hosted by Columbia University on whether mining is the key to Latin American prosperity: "Everything depends on the rules of the game.''
Looking back
When Yanacocha first opened in the early 1990s, residents—the entire region has a population of about 1.3 million—thought it represented a chance for a better life. As with any project of this sort, there would be an environmental toll, along with the forced displacement of rural dwellers. But there would also be jobs and royalties and new commerce. The people, for the most part, were welcoming. But disillusionment quickly set in.
Alpine Lake Perol: the lake will be drained and used as a waste dump if the project goes ahead. Photo by: Meghan Walsh.
"Cajamarca had an opportunity, and we missed it," said Carlos Garcia, a native who has worked as a mine engineer for almost a decade. His name has been changed since he was not authorized to speak with me. "When Yanacocha came, everyone did things wrong. Yanacocha didn't have the best environmental standards. The [Cajamarca] government wasn't ready so they didn't take advantage of the opportunities."
First, the seduction of employment proved a mirage. Yanacocha created more than 10,000 direct jobs (some fulltime and others on a contract basis), but most were given to educated outsiders. While poverty in Cajamarca did improve for a handful of years, it wasn't more than comparable areas without lucrative natural resources. The district continues to be one of the country's poorest..."
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0405-walsh-price-of-gold.html#ElQXwxmmGah7AHHT.99
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