Southern Copper to restart development of Peru mine on Monday
LIMA – Peruvian copper producer Southern Copper, controlled by Grupo Mexico, plans on Monday to restart development of the long-postponed Tia Maria project, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.
The Tia Maria mine, in the Islay province of Peru's Arequipa region, has been on hold for years amid community opposition over fears of the mine's environmental impact. Protests against the mine left six people dead between 2011 and 2015.
An internal memorandum issued by Grupo Mexico and Southern Copper on Friday and reviewed by Reuters notified employees about the start of work on Monday. A source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters that the document was authentic.
Grupo Mexico did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
In May, Southern Copper's vice president of finance, Raul Jacob, told Reuters that the $1.4-billion mine was slated to break ground by the end of the year or in the first half of 2025.
In 2019, the Peruvian government agreed with Southern Copper that development of the project could proceed when there were adequate social conditions. Jacob told Reuters in May that these conditions had improved.
The mine is eventually expected to produce 120 000 tons of copper annually.
Peru is struggling to accelerate its copper production, after Democratic Republic of Congo displaced it as the world's second largest copper producer in 2023.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation