BHP Billiton: Safety at Tintaya not yet assured

The situation has calmed at Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP) Tintaya copper mine in southern Peru, according to the country's energy and mines ministry and the company. "There are no protests at the moment outside the mine, the situation is relatively calm," BHP Billiton's spokesperson in Chile, Mauro Valdés, told BNamericas on Monday morning. "However, the operation continues to be closed. We are still waiting for the conditions to allow us to restart," Valdés continued. The required conditions are those that ensure a peaceful and safe operation, he added. On May 25 BHP Billiton suspended Tintaya operations and evacuated non-essential staff after violent protests the previous day when people gained access to the mine site. Peru's third largest mine, Tintaya produced over 118,000t of copper in concentrates and cathodes in 2004. Deputy mining minister Romulo Mucho, who is heading an official negotiating team trying to resolve the conflict, said on Sunday that the situation was calmer. Community leaders agreed last week to call off a strike in Espinar province, where Tintaya is located, after talks with the negotiating commission. "We have taken the first step, which is the establishment of a line of communication, the facilitation of the start of talks between the company and the people of Espinar," Mucho said in a statement. Community leaders are consulting organizations over setting up a date for leaders and the company to meet, penciled in for June 1, according to Mucho. However, Valdés said BHP Billiton has not yet agreed a date to start talks with community leaders. "The government and community representatives are meeting on June 1," he clarified. Tintaya signed a framework agreement in 2003 with nearby communities, including 37 local organizations, under which the mine committed to paying 3% of annual operating profit with a floor of US$1.5mn to local development projects. But locals now want to redraft the agreement and are demanding Tintaya shell out US$20mn/y and upgrade a 156km stretch of road between Yauri and Arequipa. Some voices are also calling for the mine to be closed. A wave of roadblocks and violent protests, often encouraged by extremist political groups in the run-up to elections early next year, have hit Peru in recent weeks, not just in the mining sector. There have been calls for the government to take a firmer stand. Some commentators have linked the timing of the popular protests to the departure of President Alejandro Toledo on a 17-day trip to China and the Middle East.