LIMA, Peru — Newmont Mining’s suspended $4.8 billion Minas Conga gold-mine development, the largest investment project in Peru, will be reviewed by international consultants for environmental effects, the government said.
An overhaul of the deposit’s environmental-impact study aims to eliminate opposition to the project, said newly appointed Cabinet chief Oscar Valdes Dancuart. Valdes was sworn in by President Ollanta Humala on Sunday as part of a Cabinet shakeup that included the Energy and Mines Ministry.
Denver-based Newmont, the biggest U.S. gold producer, suspended the gold project Nov. 30 after protests by villagers concerned that the deposit will dry up water supplies. Humala quelled the protests by declaring a state of emergency in the northern Andes on Dec. 4. Newmont said it will seek talks with the government and communities opposed to the project.
Peru is relying on $50 billion in investments to stop a decline in minerals output from aging, depleted mines. Protests by farmers this year halted projects by companies including Southern Copper and Bear Creek Mining.
