Top Stories Antonio Fernández Jeri has been appointed as the new High Commissioner of Mining Formalization and the Interdiction of Illegal Mining. The Amazon Conservation Association issued a new map showing that gold mining-driven deforestation grew by 226.5 hectares (560 acres) between October 2014 and February 2015 in the buffer zone of the Tambopata National […]

Top Stories The new regional president of Madre de Dios and former mining leader, Luis Otsuka, met with President Ollanta Humala to begin discussions of key mining-related issues. To combat the exportation of illegal gold from Peru to other countries, a bill has been sent to Peruvian Congress that calls for increased documentation and verification […]

Top Stories Luis Otsuka, mining leader and critic of the national mining formalization strategy, officially won the election for regional president of Madre de Dios. Three more small-scale mining operations have completed the six-step formalization process, bringing the total formalized operations nationwide to eight. All eight are in the department of Puno. The efficacy of […]

Top Stories The second round of regional presidential elections in Madre de Dios is likely to take place on December 7th. Both candidates are strong proponents of small-scale mining and have clashed with national government formalization efforts. Of the 70,000 informal miners that began the formalization process, around 25,000 have completed the first step of the process and […]

Top Stories In the October 5th  regional elections, none of the candidates for President of Madre de Dios surpassed the 30% threshold needed for victory, thereby forcing a second round between the top two vote-getters, both of whom oppose the government’s current strategy regarding the formalization process and major raids of illegal mine sites. The […]