Click to Enlarge. Detailed map of Hudbay’s Constancia mine showing location of key infrastructure. Source: Hudbay Investor Presentation, Oct 2, 2014.
Two protestors were arrested Monday at Hudbay Mineral’s Constancia mine site in Peru after local residents converged on the $1.7 billion open-pit copper project to protest Hudbay’s failure to fulfill commitments to the local community, according to a news release issued by CooperAccion and distributed by MiningWatch Canada.
“According to local media, a group of residents crossed the company’s security fence,” CooperAccion stated in its media release. “Two individuals were detained by the significant police force that protects the camp.”
Hudbay’s $1.7 billion Constancia project in Peru. Source: Hudbay Minerals
Hudbay negotiated a contract to lease 635 acres from residents in Uchuccarco for its mining operations in March 2012.
According to CooperAccion, Hudbay agreed to promote community development through a series of projects concerning education, health, housing and other issues. Uchuccarco community leaders are now claiming Hudbay has failed to comply with the agreements.
“The community calls an end to the contract and demands the withdrawal of the company and the return of its communal land,” the press release states.
Residents claim that promises for employment, and other benefits have not been fulfilled. “On the contrary, workers from the community and our brothers micro-enterprises are being kicked out of the mining project,” the release states.
The residents are claiming Hudbay has failed to pay $1.9 million in salaries to community members, and an additional $7.75 million in other payments owed to the community. Hudbay’s also angered the community over its failure to implement an environmental management plan.
“On the contrary, in the community, since exploration work began, we have been suffering from multiple negative environmental impacts (the destruction of our ecosystems, our native flora and fauna, the contamination of our river Makaray, the disappearance of streams and wetlands, etc) without HudBay or the state taking measures to avoid this,” the release stated.
Community leaders are demanding that Hudbay’s executive leadership meet with local residents. “We will never again allow this company, which has been found to be abusing the rights of other Indigenous peoples in the world, to abuse our rights,” according to a declaration from community leaders that accompanied the CooperAccion news release.
Hudbay projects that Constancia will begin full production next year. The mine is expected to process 80,000 tons of copper ore per day. It is one of the largest mining projects in Peru.
MINING IS A CRUEL AND DIRTY BUSINESS , PARTICULARLY FOR THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THOSE COUNTRIES WHERE MINING IS CARRIED OUT . IN MANY CASES CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS AND MINING COMPANIES COLLUDE TO EXPLOIT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WHO HAVE A VERY WEAK VOICE AND VERY LITTLE , IF ANY , SUPPORT IN ORDER TO STAND THEIR GROUND .
CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES ARE GOING MORE AND MORE ” OFFSHORE ” IN ORDER TO REAP MINING PROFITS . HUDBAY IS SIMPLY OPERATING AS DO OTHER MINING COMPANY OPERATING ” OFFSHORE “. BARRICK , ANOTHER CANADIAN COMPANY , HAS BEEN TAKEN TO COURT IN ENGLAND OVER ITS ACTIVITIES REGARDING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN TANZANIA . THERE ARE OTHERS WHO HAVE BENN IN AND OUT OF COURT NUMEROUS TIMES .
WHERE DOES THE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY LIE WHEN IT COMES TO THE PLIGHT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FACING THE ONSLAUGHT OF POWERFUL MINING COMPANIES WHO ARRIVE TO RAPE AND PLUNDER THEIR LAND ? IT IS GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS THAT IS RESPONSIBLE . KEEP IN MIND THE THE MINING INDUSTRY DOES NOT POLICE ITSELF . CANADA , AND PARTICULARLY THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA , HAVE BEEN FORCED TO RECOGNIZE THE ROLE OF ITS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WHEN IT COMES TO MINERAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT . IT WASN’T ALWAYS SO AND THE MINING INDUSTRY IN CANADA HAS OPPOSED EVERY STEP ALONG THE WAY . THIS IS ONE REASON WHY CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES GO ” OFFSHORE ” TO REAP MAXIMUM PROFITS AS THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE BECOME STRONGER .
ARIZONA IS A GIANT OF A MINING STATE WITH RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT APPLY TO THE MINING INDUSTRY . UNFORTUNATELY THE MINING ACT , AS IT EXISTS TODAY , IS TOTALLY OUT – OF – DATE WHEN IT COMES TO CONTROLLING THE MINING INDUSTRY THAT OPERATES WITHIN THE STATE . THE STATE AUTHORITIES HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO CARRY OUT A DUE DILIGENCE REVIEW OF ANY MINERAL RESOURCE COMPANY THAT APPLIES FOR A PERMIT TO PROMOTE , DEVELOP , EXPLOIT , MINE , PROCESS , TRANSPORT , ETC , BEFORE THE PERMITTING PROCESS IS ALLOWED TO PROCEED .
ANY MINING COMPANY WHO IS CHARGED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD MUST ACCOUNT FOR THEIR DEEDS AND MAKE PROPER AND FAIR RESTITUTION . REPEAT OFFENDERS SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM ANY PERMITTING PROCESS .
MINING COMPANIES ARE OPPORTUNISTS AND LOOK FOR WAYS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS . DON’T INVITE COMPANIES TO INVEST IF THEY HAVE BAD RECORDS . THIS IS LIKE SELLING YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL .
I NOTE THAT THE FOCUS OF ATTENTION IS ON HUDBAY’S ACTIVITIES WORLDWIDE . I ASSUME THAT IN EACH COUNTRY THAT HUDBAY OPERATES THEY DO SO THROUGH A SUBSIDIARY COMPANY THAT IS REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS IN THAT PARTICULAR COUNTRY . HUDBAY MAY BE ABLE TO ESCAPE LEGAL LIABILITIES BY PLACING THEM IN THE HANDS OF THE SUBSIDIARY IN QUESTION . THIS MAY HELP PROTECT HUDBAY FROM ANY DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACTIONS TAKEN . THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TURNS A BLIND EYE ON CANADIAN REGISTERED COMPANIES THAT CHOOSE TO GO ” OFFSHORE ” IN SEARCH OF WEALTH . IT IS ONLY RECENTLY THAT A CASE HAS REACHED THE CANADIAN COURTS INVOLVING A CANADIAN REGISTERED MINING COMPANY(HUDBAY) , ITS GUATEMALAN SUBSIDIARY AND THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S OF GUATEMALA . THE OUTCOME OF THIS CASE IS PENDING .
IN THE CASE OF ARIZONA , ROSEMONT COPPER , AS A SUBSIDIARY OF HUDBAY , EFFECTIVELY BECOMES THE AMERICAN REGISTERED COMPANY WHOSE OBJECTIVE IT IS TO DEVELOP THE ROSEMONT COPPER DEPOSIT . IF HUDBAY IS GUILTY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS RELATED TO MINERAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD , IT SHOULD BE BARED FROM DOING BUSINESS IN THE US , LET ALONE ESTABLISHING A SUBSIDIARY TO ACT ON ITS BEHALF IN THE STATE OF ARIZONA .
MORE ATTENTION SHOULD BE DIRECTED AT ROSEMONT COPPER WHEN IT COMES TO HOW HUDBAY PLANS TO DEVELOP THE ROSEMONT COPPER PROPERTY . PRESSURE MUST BE DIRECTED , AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE , AT THE SCENE OF ACTIVITY . UNFORTUNATELY , THIS BECOMES A CASE OF ” THE PEOPLE VS THE PEOPLE ” IT QUICKLY SEPARATES THOSE OPPOSED TO MINING IN CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS UNDER ANY CONDITIONS FROM THOSE WHO FULLY SUPPORT SUCH ACTIVITIES , REGARDLESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES .
All this article proves is there are individuals in Peru, who do not want a mine to be developed in their backyard. Yet, each and everyone of us uses products derived from mining everyday.
If we are unable to mine products we consume from locations where they occur in sufficient quantity and tenor to be economically recovered by a responsible mining company, where do we obtain them from? They are certainly not going to materialize from thin air.
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A ” RESPONSIBLE ” MINING COMPANY ?
Correct me if I’m wrong but this article seems to say the people DID allow them in their backyard in exchange for money, jobs, etc. and Hudbay failed to fulfill their end of the contract.
So, Chris, you think that Hudbay can do whatever they want, including contaminating rivers just because we need the product they’re producing? Nonsense!
It seems to me that mining companies, in general, across the world don’t have a particularly good reputation for caring about the communities and have created serious environmental damages and just don’t give a hoot. They are dirty – from many of the people operating them to the mess they leave.
Sally, I have never claimed that Hudbay can do whatever they want. U.S. laws permit mining companies to extract minerals on public and private lands so long as they follow all federal, state and local rules and regulations, which require them to operate in a safe and responsible manner. Rosemont Copper has not only complied with these stringent rules and regulations; they have exceeded them.
Arizonans who make their living from mining the minerals we consume are also citizens of this community and share the same values as the folks, who oppose mining. We support the Rosemont copper project because we have seen the efforts Hudbay Mineral has taken to ensure that it will be done in a safe, environmentally responsible manner and would not support it if we thought otherwise.
Hi Chris H – Just to have a little fun, here is your quote from a previous reply, reworded slightly for effect. Changes are presented in BOLD face (not to be confused with Alan J’s native caps lock prose).
“With regard as to who is AGAINST (i.e. THWARTING) Hudbay Minerals complete the permitting process, there are many Arizonans who are working very hard to PREVENT this project (FROM GETTING) underway. They REJECT Hudbay Minerals’ effort to develop this ECOLOGICALLY DISASTROUS mining operation because they recognize that the future of nation depends on the decision we make on this issue.”
You got that last part right. I didn’t need to change anything you wrote! We can agree that the example we elect to set with Rosemont will indeed have far-ranging implications. Making hard choices is never easy though. But I can tell you this much: the tangibles of preserving the Santa Ritas speak for themselves. Most folks around here just naturally get that, as does the public at large once they learn what’s at stake. The economists and extractive fanboys are the ones selling abstractions, and that’s a tough row to hoe over the long haul.