Morococha citizens protest against relocation for Chinalco's Toromocho

A group of citizens from Peruvian district Morococha in Junín region are protesting against the relocation of their town to make way for the US$2.2bn Toromocho copper-molybdenum-silver project being developed by Minera Chinalco Perú, a subsidiary of the state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China. Dozens of people took to the streets to protest against the roundtable discussions that took place on Saturday (Nov 17) in regional capital Huancayo regarding the relocation of around 5,000 inhabitants. One person was injured and property was damaged as a result of the protest, local television channel América TV reported. The protesters claim that they are the real representatives of the Morococha population. Chinalco has invested US$50mn in the construction of a new city and the transfer of the population, which began at the end of last month at a planned rate of 60 families per day. In H1, Chinalco invested US$529mn in the project, making it the country's second biggest investor after US-based Newmont (NYSE: NEM), which spent US$679mn in the same period, according to the mines and energy ministry ( MEM). The plant at Tormocho will have capacity of 117,000t/d, yielding 1Mt/y of concentrates over a 36 year life. The company expects to produce 800,000t of concentrates in the first year of production, and reach full capacity in the third or fourth year. Start-up is scheduled for early 2014. Toromocho is located 142km east of Lima at some 4,500m above sea level. Reserves are estimated at 1.5Mt.