NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE

PUNO HIGHLANDS
TITLE: ARTISANAL AND
INFORMAL
MINING IN PERU

Student: Yoel
Jamachi Maron
Code: 135665
 1 INTRODUCTION

Artisanal mining is an important phenomenon in

many parts of the world. From the small production
of coal in China to gold washing in different parts of
South America, it is estimated that this activity
employs more than 13 million persons (International
Labour Organization, 1999). At the same time, it is
also known that these artisanal operations are
characterized by their low productivity, scarce safety
conditions and negative impact on the environment.
2. THE PRINCIPLE AREAS OF ARTISANAL
MINING
Artisanal gold mining is carried out in different
geographic areas of the country, but four areas
have been studied that have the major
concentration of artisanal miners. As can be seen in
Table 1, the estimates made by the Ministry of
Energy and Mines , show that a Many people who
study the theme, state that the estimates of the
Ministry of Energy and Mines are extremely
conservative. There is consensus that the number
of miners is over 30,000
Table 1. Estimated fine gold production (Kg)
 2.1 MADRE DE DIOS

There are also references that the figure may reach

50,000 persons if the seasonal workers reconsidered,
but there are no clear estimates on their number.
Therefore, the difference in figures includes a
counting problem, as well as the consideration of
permanent and seasonal workers. There are
investigators, such as those of the OIT, that prefer to
talk of mining families as in this manner they can
easily include the work of women and children.
2.2 MID SOUTH
The Mid South is the mining area that covers the southern
part of the Department of Ica, the western part of the
Department of Ayacucho and the northern part of the
department of Arequipa. In the Mid South, there are
more than 60 mining camps located in the provinces of
Nazca and Palpa (Ica); Lucanas and Sancos (Ayacucho) and
Caraveli, Condesuyos and La Joya (Arequipa) ( See Table 2.)
This mining area is accessible by land over the
PanAmerican Highway and Tracks leading to the mining
settlements.
Table 2. Principle Artisanal Mining
Areas in the Mid-South (2000)
Table 3.
Activity engaged upon their arrival to
the mining areas
In this circumstance, artisanal mining became an activity
for refuge for these families that had lost everything.
Table 3 shows that mining became the principle activity
for more than 90% of the migrants that arrived to the
Mid South. Additionally, the economic crisis of the
decade of the 1980s that produced the sustained
deterioration of coastal agriculture and industries,
converted artisanal mining into an alternative to the lack
of employment in the economy. With this background,
it is not surprising to find mining settlements with a
migrant population of over 80% and, on the other hand,
settlements that were originally agricultural, turned into
totally mining communities.
2.3 PUNO
The department of Puno is in the southern mountain
range and is the highest department of Peru. It has a
long mining tradition dating back to the Colony. The
mining potential of the department, includes resources
such as gold, and more recently the base metals.
Many of these mining areas are at altitudes of above
4000 meters above sea level andartisanal mining
becomes a very hard activity.
 ANANEA

The Ananea mining district is in the province of San Antonio de

Putina. About 800 families live there distributed in several
communities. According to a census carried out by IDESI, 53% of
the mining contractors interviewed are dedicated exclusively to
mining (Lazaro, et
al, 1995a).
The township of Ananea is 7 hours away from Juliaca. To access
this district, there is public transport that circulates on dirt roads
once a day. The dwellings in this district are made of
adobe and stone and corrugated iron roofs. There is potable water
but no drainage and from the year 2000, they have electricity.
 La Rinconada and Cerro Lunar
La Rinconada and Cerro Lunar are two adjacent
settlements that were built around the mining
activity. Their joint population is of 8,000 families:
5,000 La Rinconada and 3,000 in Cerro Lunar, most of
which are in the artisanal mining activity. There is
information that least 800 women have mining
activities as they belong to an association of
“pallaqueras”, however, this number is
underestimated and is below the true feminine
participation in mine work.
 2.4 LA LIBERTAD
The department of La Libertad is located on the
northern coast of the country, although a part of it
extends into the mountainous region where the mining
activity is located. Mining in La Libertad is concentrated
in the province of Pataz, to the extreme east of the
department. Due to the Western mountain range, the
province of Pataz has mountainous terrain and there
are areas where the altitude is above 3,000 m.a.s.l.
3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Artisanal mining is an economic activity that is carried

out principally in four geographic zones in Peru:
Madre de Dios, Mid South (Ica, Ayacucho and
Arequipa), Puno and La Libertad. It is estimated that
between 20,000 and 30,000 persons are dedicated to
this activity in the for zones. The difference in the
figures have to do with, whether or not seasonal and/
or part time workers are included and, with the
extremely conservative figures given by official
organisms.