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The region of Cajamarca, located to the north of the Peruvian Andes mountains, continues its protest [en] against the Minas Conga mining project [en], considered to be the largest mining investment in the history of Peru, that according to its opponents threatens to destroy some 20 lagoons, which serve as a foundation for local ecosystems and a source of water for farming communities.

The regional strike has so far left five residents and three police officers injured, although no number has officially been confirmed, and different figures have been circulated: the blog Mariátegui, Revista de las ideas reports up to 18 injured.

Las autoridades de salud del departamento Cajamarca informaron a la prensa local que el choque entre las autoridades policiales y los manifestantes dejaron un saldo de 18 heridos, de los cuales 12 son civiles y seis uniformados…

Stencil art against the Yanacocha mining company, ever a theme in Cajamarca. "Yanacocha contaminates and kills you, become aware of it" Photo: Jorge Gobbi (CC BY 2.0)

At the time of this article's publication, on the sixth day [en] of regional push back in Cajamarca, the Yanacocha mining company announced the suspension [en] of Conga project operations; residents, however, have declared that they are hoping not for a move such as this from the company, but for the Peruvian government to declare the mining project ‘unfeasible’ [en], which would, it is thought, cancel it definitively.

The protests in Cajamarca arose some time ago, led by farmers and other residents of the watershed that would suffer the direct impact of this project, since the lagoons not only serve as a foundation for ecosystems and a source of water for irrigation, but also provide water for human consumption; and the conflict has been exasperated in the last weeks, after Peruvian President Ollanta Humala made statements that he “is not anti-mining,” but that he “works to make sure that mining serves the population,” calling the Conga project “important for Peru.”

As detailed earlier in the blog Palabras van y Vienen:

se supone que Conga (ubicado en los distritos de Huasmín, Sorochuco y La Encañada, producirá entre 580 mil y 680 mil onzas de oro por año; que creará alrededor de cinco mil nuevos puestos de trabajo, y que generaría entre US$ 800 a 1000 millones en regalías y canon minero para la región y los gobiernos locales de Cajamarca.

The residents of Cajamarca not only oppose Conga but also ask for the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines, Carlos Herrera Descalzi, to renounce the project. So far, the only one to renounce the project is the Vice Minister of Environmental Management, José de Echave, after encountering a report from the Minister of Environment that specified that the beginning of the Conga project “will transform the headwater of the water basin in a significant and irreversible way as well as make various ecosystems disappear.”

But what exactly, in environmental terms, are we talking about? The blog El Maletero – Red Verde Cajamarca pins down the facts about the at-risk lagoons:

…las 8 lagunas que en una primera etapa del Proyecto Conga se destruirían (o trasvasarían, según el eufemismo minero) son: El Perol, con una superficie de 16.48 hás.; Cortada, 3.64 hás.; Alforja cocha, 19.10 hás.; Azul lagoon, 4 hectores; 3 hectores; Mamacocha, 19.74 hectores.; Lipiac, 1.08 hectores; and Chica lagoon, 1.35 hectores. En total son 68.39 hás de lagunas repletas de agua. ¿Se imagina usted cuantos litros o metros cúbicos de agua están contenidas en semejante extensión hídrica? y ¿cuántas hectáreas de papa, maíz, trigo, cebada, arveja y pastos se dejarían de sembrar? (…) si le ponemos valor económico a todas estas pérdidas (…) ni todos los miles de millones de dólares de ganancia que acumularían en 20 ó 30 años alcanzaría para comprarnos el agua y los animales y productos agrícolas que se obtienen con dicho [sic] gracias al elemental líquido…

A Yanacocha company poster: "What does really contaminate water? Throwing trash in the river contaminates water; modern mining does not contaminate. Taking care of the water in Cajamarca is everyone's responsibility". Photo: Participatory Learning (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Even though the Minister of Energy and Mines has already given his approval to the project, the Minister of Environment has asked that a more exhaustive evaluation of the Environmental Impact Study (EIA), which the project had presented, be completed.

Attorney Emma Gómez writes on the blog SEVINDI:

el caso Minas Conga pone nuevamente sobre el tapete la credibilidad de los EIA y sus procesos de aprobación, pues es insostenible que sea el propio promotor de la inversión en el sector minero quien apruebe los EIA. Tal como ha sido propuesto por el Ministro del Ambiente, esa competencia tendría que pasar al Ministerio del Ambiente.

Among netizens, there are both those in favor of the Conga project, and those who are against it.

On Twitter, Felipe (@marcielmarciano) commented:

Asi son los radicales RT @perucom: [VIDEO] Paro seguirá hasta retiro de proyecto Conga goo.gl/gmYDm

OsOptimus (@OsOptimus) said, also on Twitter:

@el_observante_ COMO HACE 500 AÑOS: EL CURA AL INCA LE DA LA BIBLIA, EL INCA LA ARROJA X Q NO ENTIENDE, HOY = LOS ATAHUALPAS SERAN VENCIDOS

To this El Observante (@El_Observante) retorted:

@OsOptimus El Peru no se puede detener por un grupo de gente q quiere solo posicionamiento politico a costa del progreso de Cajamarca.

Peruvians continue to watch for developments and an outcome in this case, which has become the first significant crisis that the government of President Ollanta Humala will have to resolve.