Peru Protests Haven’t Halted Candente Exploration, CEO Says

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Candente Copper Corp., a Canadian mining exploration company with operations in Peru, is moving ahead with exploratory drilling at its $1.5 billion Canariaco copper project even as opponents threaten to stage protests next week, Chief Executive Officer Joanne Freeze said.

The company, which resumed exploratory drilling Jan. 3 after reaching an accord on land rights with the northern Andean community of Kanaris, may face protests next week from “people outside the community,” Freeze said.

Regional and national government officials today began a roundtable with the local community to seek ways to invest in health, education, electricity, water and sewage infrastructure in the area, Deputy Mining Minister Guillermo Shinno said today in an e-mailed statement.

“This technical roundtable will help clear the air and look for ways to bring sustainable development to a very poor community,” Freeze said in an interview late yesterday. “In the meantime, we are drilling.”

Candente fell 2.1 percent to 47 cents in Lima on Jan. 18 after the Mining Ministry said protesters sought to “paralyze” the project, already delayed by a year. The drop pushed the weekly decline to 22 percent, the most since November 2008. The Vancouver-based company’s Canadian-traded shares fell 8.3 percent to 44 cents, pushing the weekly drop to 27 percent.

--Editor: Mike Millard.