Southern Peru Mine Returns to Normal as Protester Talks Loom
(Bloomberg) -- Southern Copper Corp. is back to full capacity at its Cuajone operation in Peru as the company prepares for formal talks with community members whose protests shut the mine for almost two months.
“As of today, the industrial railroad and the Cuajone mine, concentrator and related facilities are operating at full capacity,” the company said late Monday in a statement. “We trust in the goodwill of all the parties to obtain agreements that benefit both the community and the company's employees.”
The 54-day disruption, combined with lower quality ore at other mines, dragged down the company's copper production by 10%, the New York-listed company said.
The protest coincides with an uptick in general social unrest over living costs that is exacerbating political tensions in the world's No. 2 copper and zinc supplier. Community members seeking a bigger share of the mineral windfall had seized reservoir facilities and blocked a rail line around Southern Copper's operation. The actions ultimately prompted the government to declare a state of emergency, which led to the company taking back control.
The government issued a resolution on Saturday to set up a Cuajone roundtable involving community members, authorities and company officials. That process will kick off shortly.
Before the Cuajone stoppage, Southern had projected production of 922,000 tons this year. Lost days in the first quarter suggest annual output will be about 895,000 tons, although the company will be working to make up some of that as the year progresses, Chief Financial Officer Raul Jacob told analysts on Tuesday. Output is set to recover to 971,000 tons next year.
Shares rose as much as 2.6% in New York.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
