Yanacocha is a gold mine in central Peru, considered one of the world's biggest and most profitable gold mines in the world. The 251-square kilometer open pit mine is situated about 18 kilometers north of Cajamarca, in high pampa, straddling the watershed. The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) provided loans totaling US$150 million and has a 5% equity investment in the Yanachocha, which is run by Newmont, a Denver, Colorado-based company that is the world’s largest gold mining firm. Newport is the major shareholder together with Buenaventura, a Peruvian company. In 2004, Yanacocha produced three million ounces of gold.

Local environmental activists claim that the mining operations, which use large quantities of cyanide, have contaminated the water sources, leading to the disappearance of fish and frogs, illnesses among cattle, polluted airs, and loss of medicinal plants. These findings were confirmed by an independent environmental audit by a Colombian consultancy firm.

In 2004, people living in the Cajamarca area protested the expansion of Yanacocha onto nearby Cerro Quilish, a mountain that supplies water to Cajamarca. In response to public outcry, Newport announced that further exploration would be suspended.

Newport has also been involved in an ongoing conflict over damages resulting from a mercury contamination. On June 2, 2000, 151 kilograms of the toxic metal were spilt while being transported by truck from Yanococha to the Pacific coast, contaminating the town of Choropampa and two neighboring villages. According to government estimates, more than nine hundred people were poisoned. After losing a three-year fight to keep the lawsuit out of US courts, Newmont announced at the end of 2004 that it would participate in settlement talks before two retired Colorado judges. But mediation talks in January failed to produce a settlement and the plaintiffs, eleven hundred campesinos, announced they will go ahead with their suit in Denver district court.

External links

• "Halting the rush against gold", the Economist, 3 Feb 2005
• "Peasants in Peru near showdown on mercury spill", Miami Herald, 5 March 2005
• "Yanacocha: Dividing and Polluting", Friends of the Earth