Three killed as clashes over mine projects turns violent in Peru

The protesters believe that the mining project – expected to be Peru’s largest when it becomes fully operational in 2016 – will contaminate crops and the local water supply.

Its backers say that once completed, Las Bambas will be one of the top three copper mines in the world. It bought Glencore XStrata’s assets in April 2014 for $6 billion.

But resistance by local farmers has frustrated and delayed major projects across the rugged Andean nation.

Leader of the Front for Defense of the Interests of Cotabambas (FDIC) Jaime Osorio said the disturbances unleashed when a rally of 15,000 people was attacked by police who launched tear gas at them.

About 1,500 police officers and 150 military officers were sent to the area ahead of protests that began Friday.

However, police apparently opened fire on the protesters when they tried to enter the mine, where a plant is being constructed to separate copper ore from rock.

In a company filing on Tuesday, Hong Kong-listed MMG said the protests were instigated by outlying communities, not those directly adjacent to the mine site.

“We are not against the Las Bambas mine as a whole”.

Peru is now the third biggest producer of copper after Chile and China.

“Police used non-lethal weapons at the start, and then, to defend themselves, had to use lethal weapons”, Perez said in a televised interview.

Reasons for the protests include the mine’s environmental impact study and political and social issues relevant to the broader region, MMG said.

Police in Peru killed at least two activists during protests at the site of a major new mine in a remote region of the Andes on Monday, according to the government.