Three killed in New Year’s Eve attack on informal miners in Peru

View of the SERMIGOLD mine in Arequipa, Peru, Sunday, May 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Mojito)

LIMA - At least three people were killed in a New Year’s Eve attack on informal miners in Pataz district in northern Peru, local authorities and a mining firm said on Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks on small-scale gold miners in the Andean nation.

Mining firm Poderosa (PODERC1.LM) said its security personnel had approached the area after hearing gunshots, and found three people shot dead, adding they had likely entered illegally to extract materials.

The mining company said police had said no one was kidnapped or missing, contradicting earlier statements on TV by Pataz Mayor Aldo Marino, who told local TV that police had reported seven people missing.

Marino said reports from other people nearby suggested the death toll could be higher.

Local prosecutors said on social media they had found 11 shell casings at the scene and launched an investigation. Poderosa said police had arrested two people.

The police did not confirm the attack and government officials were not available to comment.

Pataz has become Peru’s main gold-producing area, thanks mainly to small-scale artisan or informal mines, which operate under temporary government permits called REINFO.

Thousands of permits are however exploited by illegal miners who according to police and industry sources steal the output from other miners working together with criminal gangs.

Peru’s government in December extended the REINFO permits for one year, the fifth such extension in a decade. In July, it kicked over 50,000 small-scale miners off the scheme, more than half, keeping just over 30,000 for a formalization process.

Peru exported US$15.5 billion worth of gold in 2024, a sharp jump from $11 billion registered the previous year. About 40 per cent is of illegal origin, according to estimates from local industry and the country’s financial watchdog.

Police reported 13 miners killed in the same district in May last year as criminal gangs sought to grow their control in the area.