MEM: More Tintaya talks set for Fri

Peru's mines and energy ministry (MEM) has scheduled a new meeting on Friday (Jun 10) to resolve the crisis that has led Anglo-Australian resource group BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to suspend its Tintaya copper mine in southern Peru. The mayor of Espinar province, where Tintaya is located, has been asked to assign six municipal representatives to attend the meeting, MEM said in a statement. Mayor Luis Alvarez Salcedo has also been requested to arrange for six representatives of community organizations to be present, the ministry said. The president of Cusco department, Carlos Cuaresma, has also been invited to attend. The aim is to exchange ideas on how Espinar can set up a mechanism to revise the community's framework agreement with Tintaya and re-establish talks with the mining company. Peru's third largest copper mine, Tintaya has been suspended for over two weeks after violent protests. BHP Billiton is waiting for the return of safe conditions to reopen the operation and a dialog process with teeth before restarting talks, the company said previously. BHP Billiton signed the framework agreement in September 2003 with 37 community organizations and provincial authorities. The deal states that Tintaya provide 3% of annual profit with a floor of US$1.5mn to local development projects. On May 18 this year communities gave Tintaya 24 hours to agree to a new proposal, which included increasing the annual amount to US$20mn, but the company demurred. The company employs some 1,500 locals, who are pushing for the mine to be reopened. The country is losing US$100,000/d in revenue due to the stoppage, according to MEM. Tintaya produced 118,000t of copper in cathodes and concentrates in 2004, according to MEM figures.