Since opening a decade ago, Peru’s Yanacocha mine has ranked as Latin America’s largest, and the world’s most profitable, gold mine. Small wonder, then, that the company operating it—Minera Yanacocha, which is majority-owned by Newmont Mining of Denver, Colorado—plans to expand its operations in the same concession area. But digging a new mine in Peru is not as easy as it might have been in the early 90s. Over the past three years, the country has seen growing protests by grassroots groups and local communities over the effects of mining on the environment, agriculture and human health. As it considers mining another part of its 535-square-mile (1,385 sq km) concession area, Yanacocha has discovered it is not immune. At issue... [Log in to read more]
