Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) expects that an international consultants’ report on the environmental impact study of the Conga gold copper project will be completed in March 2012, Minister Jorge Merino has said. The project is estimated to cost up to $4.8 billion to build by Newmont Mining and Peru’s Buenaventura. The environmental study was approved in October 2010, but after protests by local communities against the project the government decided to contract international experts to examine the study.

This latest study will focus on the project’s impact on the water resources and the solutions proposed by the companies, Merino said. The objective is to check if the study fulfills the environmental requirements and if it could be improved, he added. Governmental backing for the project is strong, and the government has suggested it cannot afford for the project not to go ahead – it would face huge compensation claims. Former President Alan Garcia recently spoke out against Cajamarca’s Governor, Gregorio Santos, saying Santos was trying to overrule President Humala’s authority by declaring the Conga mining project was unfeasible. Highlights of Peru’s current mining projects and the dramatic recent rise of Colombia’s mining industry are featured in an article in the March issue of International Mining.