Peru poll shows nearly 4 in 5 locals oppose mine
Aug 22, 2012, 8:25 PM
LIMA, Peru (AP) – A poll in the Peruvian region where farmers have been protesting a $5 billion gold-mining project says nearly four of five inhabitants oppose the project.
The Ipsos-Apoyo poll in Cajamarca province found just 15 percent approve of the Conga project, with 78 percent disapproving and 7 percent with no opinion. U.S.-based Newmont Mining Co. is the mine’s majority owner.
The open-pit mine’s opponents fear it will diminish and contaminate water supplies.
Hundreds of Conga opponents held a second day of peaceful protests in the region Wednesday against what would be Peru’s biggest mine. They defied a state of emergency suspending the right of assembly that was imposed in early July after five people died during violent protests.
The poll of 504 people had an error margin of five percentage points.
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