Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) announced that it has halted production at the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru effective this month and has placed it under a period of care and maintenance.
The action by the Australia-based base metals miner follows the widespread social unrest in the country due to the impeachment of Pedro Castillo, the previous President of Peru.
According to the company, the mining operation at the Peruvian copper mine was impacted by community protests in Q4 2022. It restricted inbound and outbound logistics and movement of people which resulted in reduced mining rates.
Following the intermittent roadblocks and transport disruption, the Las Bambas copper mine began a progressive slow-down of its operation because of a shortage of essential supplies.
MMG stated: “The Company has made progress in dialogue processes and the implementation of agreements during the fourth quarter across the six communities that participated in the mid-year protests, as well as with other communities located along the Heavy Haul Road logistics corridor.
“Discussions with the Huancuire community have resumed in January 2023 and ongoing dialogue forums to discuss implementation of agreements with the Fuerabamba community have been established.
“Unfortunately, all dialogue tables have been forced to pause due to security concerns amid nation-wide protests. We look forward to progressing these discussions once the social unrest dissipates.”
With the shutdown of logistics, the inventory levels on site raised to about 85,000 tonnes of copper metal (contained in concentrate) as on 31 December 2022, said the base metals miner.
The Las Bambas copper mine produced 73,093 tonnes of copper in Q4 2022, representing a 12% increase compared to the prior corresponding period of the previous year. However, the Q4 copper production is 9% lower than what it was in the third quarter of 2022.
Once the political unrest is over, MMG expects the production at the Las Bambas mine to be in the range of 265,000 and 305,000 tonnes in 2023.
