Peru State Water Works Seek to Deflect Newmont Protests

Peru will concentrate most of a 1 billion-sol ($394 million) government investment in reservoirs and water-treatment projects near Newmont Mining Corp.’s $5 billion Minas Conga gold project in a bid to defuse opposition to the mine, the National Water Authority chief said.

A drive to build 25 reservoirs will benefit 1,500 farming families, irrigate 2,350 hectares (5,800 acres) of land and boost crops 11-fold in the northern Andean region of Cajamarca, where protests left five dead last year, Hugo Jara said.