UPDATE: Peru Poll Shows 40% Believe Minas Conga Won't Start
March 15 2012 - 11:18AM
Dow Jones News
A new poll shows that 41% believe that the stalled Minas Conga
copper and gold project will proceed, while 40% think the mine
project won't start operating.
Pollster Datum said in the poll published in newspaper Gestion
on Thursday that 19% had no opinion about the project.
Analysts say that if the project doesn't go forward, this could
harm investments in Peru.
Protests by residents concerned about potential damage to water
supplies led to a suspension of work on the $4.8 billion project
late last year. Minera Yanacocha, which is developing the deposit,
says it will be able to build reservoirs to ensure improved access
to water.
The poll found that 55% believe that if the Minas Conga project
doesn't advance, investments in mining in Peru will stall or
decline.
Three international consultants have started work on examining
the company's environmental impact study, which was approved by the
government of former President Alan Garcia in 2010. They are
expected to report to the government on their findings in the first
week of April.
"We are doing all that we can to ensure that the project moves
forward in accordance with what was decided by the previous
government," Prime Minister Oscar Valdes said on RPP radio
Thursday.
At a meeting with reporters this week, a high-level Yanacocha
official said that the company has complied with all legal
requirements to proceed with the project.
Peru is one of the world's largest mining companies for copper,
gold, silver, zinc, tin and other minerals.
Yanacocha hopes to have production up and running at Minas Conga
by the end of 2014 or early 2015.
Production is seen at an average annual output during the first
five years of 580,000 to 680,000 ounces of gold and 155 million to
235 million pounds of copper.
Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN, BUENAVC1.VL) has a
43.65% stake in Yanacocha, which is controlled by Newmont Mining
Corp. (NEM) The International Finance Corp. has a minority
stake.
The Datum poll of 1,206 persons was taken from March 9 to March
12, and has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
-By Robert Kozak, Dow Jones Newswires; 51-1-99927 7269;
peru@dowjones.com