Southern Copper postpones new venture in Peru

Southern Copper sais Tuesday it has postponed its Tia María mining project in Peru due to "social conflicts" in the area. Chief executive Oscar González said the miner, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, will revise the project's feasibility in April and is considering alternative ventures in Argentina and Ecuador. "The project will be delayed a year, maybe until 2013. A new board will revise the situation and if they prefer to take their investment elsewhere, we'll suspend the project", the executive said.

Unfortunately, riots over natural resources are common in Peru, both involving native groups and environmental issues. Tia María would produce 120,000 tonnes of copper a year, according to Southern Copper.