China’s Peruvian mines face protests over Covid-19 risks
- Trade unions and non-governmental organisations accuse Chinese companies of covering up ‘true number’ of cases
- Peru ranks among the worst affected countries, with more than 650,000 confirmed infections of the disease
According to Lopez, 39, Chinalco has yet to disclose how many miners tested positive for Covid-19 in July and August, which he says puts thousands of workers at risk at the mine, about a four-hour drive from the capital Lima.
His complaints are echoed by non-government organisations in Peru and elsewhere in South America, saying mines run by Chinese companies fail to disclose infection numbers and follow local guidelines to combat the disease.
Peru, which has a population of 33 million, has seen a spike in Covid-19 infections and is now among the world’s worst-affected countries, with more than 650,000 cases and over 29,000 fatalities.
Officials reached at Chinalco’s Beijing headquarters declined to comment on the allegations and two emails to the Peru subsidiary’s communications team received no reply.
Mining of copper, zinc, gold and other minerals makes up more than 9 per cent of Peru’s US$227 billion economy, but accounts for about 60 per cent of exports by value, according to the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mining.