Buenaventura temporarily halted activities at the San Gabriel gold project, located in the district of Ichuña, province of General Sánchez Cerro, Peru. The company was expecting to start its project within the year with an investment of $543 million.
Buenaventura’s energy and mines regional manager, Edgar Ayamamani, said the company made this decision because the diamond drilling has not been effective in finding new reserves, and the price of gold remains at $1,163 per ounce.
Another contributory factor was the request made by local authorities and the surrounding community for the company to carry out some social responsibility work in the area. This forced Buenaventura to conduct a technical and integral re-assessment of the project to determine its feasibility.
Ayamamani hopes to have better news in May. The mayor of Ichuña, Juan José Casilla, said he is very concerned since the population will be affected by an eventual drop in the economic turnover in his region.
