UPDATE: Peru's Rio Blanco Says Mining Camp Attacked; 2 Dead
The company said the attack by around 20 people took place early Sunday.
Company officials said the attackers burned down part of the camp, located close to the border with Ecuador.
A consortium led by China's Zijin Mining Group Co. (2899.HK) runs Monterrico Metals Plc, (MNA.LN) owner of the Rio Blanco copper project. The project hasn't yet entered into production.
Tensions between the developers of the project and local communities have run high in recent years.
Opponents of the mine say the area around the planned mine has a fragile high-mountain climate. They add that water supplies needed for agriculture are threatened by mining.
More recently the company has been accused of hiring security forces who in 2005 allegedly abused protesters against the project--something the company denies any involvement in by its employees or officials.
In a statement Monday, a group made up of local community groups and municipalities opposing the mine, the Front for the Sustainable Development of Peru's Northern Border, said that they were in no way involved in the weekend attack.
The group cited a local newspaper report saying that the fatalities were due to the accidental discharging by a security guard of a shotgun.
The group reiterated its belief that the mining company is illegally operating in the area since they say it doesn't have the permission of the local community, among other things.
Rio Blanco was discovered in 1994 and has passed through the hands of several mining companies.
-By Robert Kozak, Dow Jones Newswires; 511-99927 7269; peru@dowjones.com
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Publié le 02 novembre 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
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