Protest leader: Miners remove blockades from key copper route in Peru

Luis Huaman said on Tuesday that the protests of Peruvian miners who were allowed to operate temporarily with permits had ceased. The protests, which blocked a major copper transport route for over two weeks, were halted by those permitted to operate.

He said that they would suspend their protests at least until Friday while pressing the government to find a way to renew their permits. The Peruvian government is working to terminate the "informal" program, which was designed to be temporary and created more than a decade earlier. However, workers in this sector complain that the new regulations for operating legally are far too strict.

Protests started in Peru late in June. They included blocking a road used by MMG, Glencore, and Hudbay Minerals whose mines rank among Peru's top 10 copper producers.

Andean nations is the third largest copper producer in the world.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines aims to bring in more than

There are 31,000 informal miners

After removing over 50,000 other participants from the program in the first week of this month, the ministry expects to have all the remaining participants comply with the regulations by the end the year. At least 45,000 had not registered any activity over the past four years, according to the ministry.

Huaman stated that "it's a ceasefire." Huaman said that a committee of informal miner and government representatives was scheduled to meet on Friday in Lima to discuss the issue. However, protesters will "resume their blockade" on the mining route if they do not get what they want, he added.

Huaman stated that the protesters are asking the government to provide a means for informal operations to continue. They also said they would restart the demonstration if an accord is not reached by Friday.

Last week, China's MMG (MMG) and Canada's Hudbay told top government officials about their production

Could be affected

If the protests continued, it would be a mistake. (Reporting and writing by Marco Aquino, Editing by Kylie Madry & Les Adler; Writing by Daina-Beth Solomon)

(source: Reuters)