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LOGBOOK CSP
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The CENTER for SCIENCE in PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Technical Support for Grassroots Public Interest Groups

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The of
CUMULATIVE IMPACTS IN THE ESPINAR REGION OF PERU
CSP2 with Oxfam in Peru
Located in and around the Andes Mountains, the Es-
pinar Province in the Cusco Region of southeastern
Peru contains potentially significant metal resources,
particularly copper. Located at approximately 13,000
feet elevation (3,900 meters) the region hosts small
and relatively large communities that thrive on agri-
culture, livestock, dairy, and subsistence farming. The
region is increasingly shaped by mining.
Oxfam America has engaged CSP2 to help assess
cumulative mining impacts in the region, especially
near the town of Espinar. As part of an ongoing inves-
tigation, CSP2s Stu Levit twice visited the area, tour-
ing existing mine sites, participating in two all-day
community meetings, and meeting with community,
government, and non-governmental groups.
The principal large-scale mining company in the re-
gion is Xstrata PLC, a Swiss-Anglo corporation, and
one of the largest mining companies in the world.
Oxfams concerns focus on the areas four active and
proposed mines: the Tintaya Mine in production since
1985; the Antapaccay mine, now moving waste rock
to form its pits; the Las Bambas mine, expected to be
commissioned in 2014, and the Coroccohuayco ore-
body which is being actively explored.
The Tintaya mine extracts from a copper skarn de-
posit and is expected to continue until approximately
2018. It produces copper concentrates and cathodes
that are processed in two plants. The mine consists of
multiple pits, waste rock piles, an ore processing plant,
and multiple tailings impoundments. Xstrata believes
that its waste rock and tailings are benign so the tail-
ings facilities and waste rock piles are unlined.
The main pit is being transformed by building a dike
of waste rock to separate the pits remaining ore from
the first stage of a tailings impoundment for ore pro-
cessing waste from Antapaccay, Las Bambas, and pos-
sibly Coroccohuayco.
The Tintaya Mine site also contains a new processing
plant for ore from the Antapaccay and Las Bambas
mines, and possibly from the Coroccohuayco ore-
body, if that site is developed. Waste from the new
processing plant will be disposed of in the Tintaya pit.
The Antapaccay deposit is located approximately ten
kilometers southwest of the Tintaya mine. It is in the
early stages of ore development and is being developed
at a cost of $1.47 billion. The Antapaccay mine will
have two pits and waste rock piles associated with
each. Ore will be transported to a loading facility that
(Continued on page 2)
Xstrata Operations in Peru (map from Xstrata)
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will place ore on a conveyor belt for transport to the
Tintaya Processing facility.
The Las Bambas Mining Project is located ap-
proximately 200 kilometers from the Tintaya mine.
Peruvian authorities approved final permitting and
construction is expected to commence during the
first half of 2013. Xstrata plans to transport Las
Bambas ore via a slurry pipeline to the Tintaya fa-
cility for ore processing and tailings disposal.
Xstratas Coroccohuayco ore-body is nine kilome-
ters southeast of Tintaya and is currently undergo-
ing pre-feasibility studies. Xstratas 2011 mineral
estimate was 324 million tonnes at 0.93% copper.
Three watersheds in the Tintaya area are im-
portant to the communities and to Xstrata Copper,
which uses water from them at its mines. The com-
munities depend on the water for their livelihoods.
Oxfam was especially motivated to engage CSP2
in the Espinar region because of concerns regarding
cumulative impacts from the multiple mines and
their interconnected infrastructures. Cumulative
impacts result from the incremental impact of an
action when added to other past, present, and rea-
sonably foreseeable future actions.
The individual impacts from the Tintaya,
Antapaccay, and Las Bambas mines are potentially
significant to each of their individual, respective,
local geographies. However, the cumulative im-
pacts may affect each of their local geographies, the
geographies of their sister mines, and the region as
(Continued from page 1)
a whole. These individual and cumulative mining
impacts may also be enlarged by impacts from other
existing or new activities, such as agriculture or oth-
er activities, over both space and time. This is criti-
cal for technical understanding, and possibly more
importantly for agency and public decision making.
It is impossible to know the social, economic, en-
vironmental, and other impacts mining may have to
the region without government agencies, policy-
makers, and the public, considering cumulative im-
pacts. It is only by reviewing all of these compo-
nents together that government regulators and the
public can identify and understand how multiple
mines in the Espinar Province will impact the whole
of the province. Without a cumulative impacts
analysis, individual mine impacts may be identified,
but the synergy between the different mines and ac-
tivities (and their individual timing, order, and inter-
relationships) will not be considered - with poten-
tially significant results.
As a policy matter, it is essential for the govern-
ment to ensure that project-specific impacts and cu-
mulative impacts are known and considered. With-
out such analysis, the actual costs and benefits from
mines in the Espinar Province will be largely un-
known until those costs and benefits are manifested
- leaving the government and public to respond
when it may be too late.
Xstrata reports that it has not substantially degrad-
ed water quality and has not exceeded water quality
standards. The company also reports that it has
(Continued on page 3)
Community members in Espinar (town) attended two full
days of meetings and presentations to discuss the mine.
Antapaccay Mine Site, showing the start of one of the
mine pits and waste rock pile.
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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
I have several important
announcements that I am
happy to communicate.
On J anuary 1, 2013, Dr.
Carol Ann Woody joined
CSP2. Carol Ann is a fish-
eries scientist specializing
in salmon. I first met Carol
Ann when working togeth-
er on the Pebble mine.
She has designed, super-
vised and published re-
sults of original research focused on salmonid
behavior, genetics, life history, evolution, and
management since 1991. She has over 25 years
of experience including: 13 years as a fisheries
research scientist with the US Geological Survey
at the Alaska Science Center. She has published
more than 25 scientific papers and a recent book
on advances in sockeye salmon research. Carol
Ann is adjunct faculty at the University of Alas-
ka, Fairbanks, and the University of Idaho. Car-
ol Ann lives in Anchorage with her husband J oel.
Dr. Kendra Zamzow is the middle of a sabbati-
cal from CSP2 to the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. She has a Science
and Policy fellowship working with the EPA,
Office of Research and Development, Office of
Science Policy, in Washington, D.C. She will be
on sabbatical until September, 2013, and will
return to Alaska to help with coal issues and the
pending EIS on the Donlin mine. This is valua-
ble experience for Kendra, and the contacts and
experience she gains in Washington should help
her Alaska clients, and benefit her work with
CSP2 for years to come.
Finally, CSP2 has been working with Hairpin
Communications, Boston, MA, to redesign the
website, which has been largely static for a dec-
ade. The new website is more interactive, and
features a new page on the Framework for Re-
sponsible Mining, a document written in 2005,
but which is still generating significant interest
from an number of sources around the world.
Take a few minutes and let me know what you
think of the new website (www.csp2.org).
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Dave Chambers is the
Executive Director of CSP
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CENTER for SCIENCE in PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
224 North Church Avenue
Bozeman, Montana 59715-3706
Phone: 406-585-9854 Fax: 406-585-2260
e-mail: [email protected] Web: www.csp2.org
The Center for Science in Public Participation
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation
Volume 17 Number 1, Spring 2013

Don Bachman, Bozeman, MT
Anna Cederstav, Oakland, CA
Mike Clark, Bozeman, MT
Steve DEsposito, Wash., DC
Glenn Miller, Reno, NV
Alan Young, Ottawa, ON
CSP
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Board of Directors
used less water than it is permitted to use and that its
water use has not impacted the environment. Some
people living near the mine and nongovernmental or-
ganizations claim that the mine has degraded water
quality, impacted human health, killed fish and live-
stock, and caused other injuries to the environment.
CSP2 seeks to ensure that all mining activities in the
Espinar Province, including monitoring and public
participation, are consistent with best international
practices and protocols. Third-party access to data
and information is necessary to try to identify actual
impacts caused by Tintaya mine to help inform analy-
sis and refinement of the Antapaccay and Las Bambas
projects to reduce their impacts to human health and
the environment. Persistent community concerns un-
derscore that there is always room for improvement -
by the mining company, the government, and the
communities and interested parties.
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(Continued from page 2)
2011 Satellite View of Tintaya mine
(courtesy of Google Earth and SkyTruth)
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