A little more positive news from the Peruvian Papers:
World Gold Council: Large gold mines dominate Peru's economy
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Lima, Oct. 15 (ANDINA). Large gold mines play a dominant role in the Peruvian economy, a study by gold-mining-industry group the World Gold Council said Friday.
The report, which examined the economic impact of the country's four largest gold mines over a period of 14 years, found that they accounted for 60% of the $5.6 billion in gold exports in 2008.
The WGC's research focused on Newmont Mining Corp.'s Yanacocha, Barrick Gold Corp.'s Lagunas Norte, Gold Fields Ltd.'s Cerro Corona and Compania de Minas Buenaventura's Orcopampa. The mines represented nearly 10% of foreign direct investment in Peru and accounted for over 20% of mining exports and 12% of total exports from Peru in 2009, the group said.
Gold mining also plays an important role in government revenues, with the government collecting around $800 million from the four mines in 2009, Dow Jones Newswires quoted the industry body as saying.
While aggregate employment across the four mines is seen peaking at 5,000 employees this year, 99% of the work force is made up of Peruvian nationals, while community salaries represent nearly half the $250 million expected to be paid in wages in 2011 through 2014, WGC said. It added that around 90% of total procurement spending by the four mines was on national suppliers.
