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Protest Begins Against Billion-dollar Southern Copper Mining Project in Peru

Reuters

   LIMA - Protesters blocked a portion of Peru's main coastal highway on
   Monday in the start of a new challenge to a billion-dollar copper
   mining project that has been a lightning rod for conflict.

   Protesters from the area bordering Southern Copper Corp.'s $1.4 billion
   Tia Maria copper mine project in the south of Peru carried signs and
   flags as they occupied a section of the highway, snarling traffic for
   cargo vehicles and others.

   The project has long been lamented by residents in the southern region
   of Arequipa where farmers say the mine will pollute their fields and
   affect water supplies.

   "We are not going to talk. We want the presence of President (Martin)
   Vizcarra with the cancellation of the project," Luis Cornejo, mayor of
   Cocachacra, told Reuters, referencing the construction permit granted
   by the government on July 9.

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