On May 22, the Peruvian mining company Buenaventura had to paralyze the operation of its El Brocal mine, after its facilities were intervened – without authorization – by members of the Huaraucaca community.. Almost three weeks after this event, the firm announced the resumption of mineral treatment operations at its processing plant.
According to a statement sent by the firm, “ore treatment activities resumed at midnight on June 7, 2024 to begin processing inventory accumulated at the mine site.”
Likewise, he explained that El Brocal has accumulated approximately 220 thousand tons of copper ore, “whose processing will gradually increase until reaching a rate of 15 thousand tons per day, which will allow the mineral processing that was stopped during the suspension to be recovered.”
This happened because the firm never stopped producing mineral, since the underground mine was still in operation, only its processing was suspended.
With this itinerarythe copper company expects to achieve the budgeted production in the third quarter of the year, in order to also achieve the projected production for the entire year 2024.
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Agreement
During these weeks of suspension, the company, together with community members, held various discussions to finally sign an agreement to end the blockade and related suspension of mineral treatment at the Company’s processing facilities.
«A formal dialogue between community leaders and Buenaventura, facilitated by officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru (MINEM), reviewed and addressed general compliance with the commitments between both parties. Furthermore, Buenaventura reaffirms its commitment and compliance with all agreements signed with the communities surrounding its operations,” the copper company said in a statement.
