Peru suspends gold mining in north after massacre

Mining in Pataz in Peru’s north will be suspended for 30 days, the country’s President Dina Boluarte said on Monday.

She made the announcement after the bodies of 13 security guards working at a gold mine were found by police in a mine tunnel on Sunday.

The workers had been held captive for more than a week after being kidnapped.

Peru’s government also plans to impose an overnight curfew and set up a military base in Pataz, located around 560 miles (900 kilometers) from the capital Lima.

The 13 people found dead on Sunday were employees of a subcontractor of mining company Ponderosa, one of Peru’s top gold producers.

Illegal miners accused of using ‘terrorist’ methods

“The armed forces will take control of the area where Poderosa operates,” Boluarte said. “We all know that illegal activity in our mining sector generates millions and millions, much more than drug trafficking.”

She added that the government would ask congress to pass legislation to allow it to combat what she called “urban terrorism.”

She didn’t provide details on how the mining pause would work.

Poderosa says that 39 of its workers, including contractors and artisanal miners, have been killed recently in the gold-rich Pataz region at the hands of criminal gangs believed to be linked to illegal mining.

This is despite the region being under a state of emergency for more than two years.

Poderosa told the Reuters news agency that the mining suspension only applied to informal miners.

Peru’s mining and energy minister, Jorge Montoro, said the 30-day pause could be extended.