Between July 7 and 14, 2025, informal miners in southern Peru escalated their protests by blocking key transport corridors used by the mining industry— particularly the vital Southern Mining Corridor. This corridor links major copper producers, including MMG’s Las Bambas and Hudbay’s Constancia, to Pacific ports. The roadblocks were set up in response to the government’s removal of over 50,000 informal miners from the REINFO (Registry for the Integral Formalization of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining) program, effectively cutting them off from the legal pathway to regularize their operations. Demonstrators claim the decision was abrupt, left many without alternatives, and threatens their livelihoods in areas where few other economic options exist.
The protests have already disrupted ore transport, fuel supply, and staff mobility at several operations. While companies have not yet declared force majeure, they have warned the government that prolonged disruption could affect production schedules and contractual deliveries. Executives from Las Bambas and Constancia have held urgent meetings with the Prime Minister’s office, calling for dialogue and security guarantees to resume normal operations. These events echo previous years’ blockades that periodically halted billions of dollars in copper exports—reinforcing the vulnerability of the mining sector to unresolved social tensions and policy disconnects.
At the heart of the conflict is a fractured social license to operate (SLO)—not just for mining companies, but for the state itself. Informal miners, often organized in community-based collectives, feel excluded from decisions that directly affect their economic survival. The government’s regulatory push, while necessary to combat environmental degradation and criminal infiltration, must be accompanied by genuine engagement, technical support, and fair transition measures. Without this, enforcement efforts risk fueling resistance, destabilizing formal mining operations, and undermining Peru’s reputation as a reliable supplier of critical minerals in a global market increasingly sensitive to ESG risks.