LIMA (Reuters) - Southern Copper, one of Peru's largest copper producers, said on Thursday it has started legal actions to oust "illegal miners" that are occupying and slowing development of one of its key projects.
In its quarterly report, the company said that part of its Los Chancas project "continues to be occupied by illegal miners" as of the end of June, 75 of whom had irregularly registered in a state mining formalization program. Some small-scale miners have claimed ownership over the Las Chancas area.
Southern Copper is owned by Grupo Mexico and is seeking to develop Los Chancas, located in the southern Apurimac region, with an estimated investment of $2.6 billion.
Los Chancas is crucial to the mining group's goal of producing 1.8 million metric tons of copper a year by 2030. Los Chancas would produce some 130,000 tons of copper a year.
The mining company said that in addition to the expelling the miners, it is seeking to "confiscate illegally extracted minerals".
Small-scale mining, fueled by high metal prices and a disorganized government permitting system, is a growing problem for companies in Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer.
Southern Copper's net profit in the second quarter of the year was $547.5 million, an increase of 26.6% compared to the same period in 2022, mainly due to a reduction in sales costs, the company said.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
