Gold mining suspended in Peru’s north after 13 miners killed

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LIMA (Reuters) -Mining in Peru’s northern district of Pataz will be suspended for 30 days, President Dina Boluarte said on Monday, after 13 gold mine workers in the area were kidnapped and killed by illegal miners.

Peru’s government also plans to set up a military base and implement a curfew lasting from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the district.

On Sunday, miner Poderosa said the bodies of 13 workers from a local firm, R&R, which held a mining contract with Poderosa, had been recovered by police after they were kidnapped last month.

“The armed forces will take control of the area where Poderosa operates,” Boluarte said, but did not provide details on how the mining pause would work.

“We’re clarifying the issue,” Poderosa’s manager of corporate affairs told Reuters, adding that the suspension should only apply to informal miners.

Peru is the world’s third-largest copper producer, but the deposits of the red metal are largely in the south. Gold and silver are mined in the north.

Poderosa alleged that nearly 40 people – including contractors and artisanal miners – have been killed recently in Pataz at the hands of criminal gangs.

Since 2020, illegal miners have taken over several areas under Poderosa’s control.

The area had already been under a state of emergency, with heavy police and military presence, due to prior attacks on Poderosa’s operations.

Peru’s mining and energy minister, Jorge Montoro, said the 30-day pause could be extended.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Gabriel Araujo, Alexander Villegas and Bill Berkrot)