Minera Oro Negro challenges environmental ordinances in Peru

Oro Negro Compañía Minera S.A.C., along with three other companies and four individuals, has filed an amparo lawsuit seeking to block the application of two environmental ordinances aimed at protecting watershed heads.

The legal action targets the Provincial Municipality of Huancayo, the Regional Government of Junín, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines. The plaintiffs are contesting Municipal Ordinance 835, which designates the protection and sustainable management of the Yuracyacu, Shullcas, Achamayo, and Tulumayo river sub-basins as a matter of public interest. This ordinance allows authorities to declare these areas as intangible zones or protected natural areas.

The mining group seeks to prevent these regulations from restricting their mining and energy operations and aims to avoid exclusion from the Integral Mining Formalization Registry (REINFO). The plaintiffs currently hold 1,100 titled hectares and an additional 1,100 hectares under processing, alongside eleven REINFO registrations.