Details
Country: Peru
Fairtrade certified in: 2017
Main products:
Gold and precious metals
The gold mining organisation Municipal de Ananea
Peru is one of the most important gold producing countries in the world. Besides the large international mining companies, there are many smaller mines that represent the majority of the labour force in gold mining. One of them is the cooperative Minera Municipal de Ananea in the southern Peruvian region of Puno. It is one of the ten cooperatives that together form the umbrella organisation CECOMSAP - Central de Cooperativas Mineras San Antonio de Poto.
Projects using Fairtrade Premium
Organisation and productivity:
- Improvement of the gold processing plant to increase purity and prevent pollution.
- Participation of the premium committee in a congress in Lima
Workers and working conditions:
- Purchase of protective clothing for the workers
- Purchase of radios to improve communication between workers
- Installation of a water tank and a boiler for hot water in the cooperative office for the workers
- Training for cooperative members on accounting, money laundering and cooperative management
- Pandemic prevention methods such as Covid-19 testing and medical protective equipment such as masks, disinfectants and gloves to protect miners' health.
Environment:
- Maintenance and enlargement of settling and water clarification ponds to prevent pollution.
- Installation of a retort to recover the mercury during separation from the raw gold.
Social projects:
- Gift baskets as Christmas presents for all workers of the cooperative.
- This helps to strengthen the relationship between the mines and the surrounding communities and is a Christmas tradition in Peru.
About the cooperative
The people of Ananea traditionally live from alpaca breeding and wool production. Although this work is an important part of their identity, it did not offer these people enough economic prospects. Therefore, the inhabitants of Ananea have found an alternative activity in gold mining to overcome their poverty.
The Cooperativa Minera Municipal de Ananea Ltda. was founded in 2000 by 140 cooperative members. Due to lack of work, low income and other reasons, the number of cooperative members gradually decreased. For some years now, there have remained 36, of which 14 are founding members. The mine of the cooperative is located at an altitude of 4680 to 4900m. The majority of the workers live in Ananea, some also in the town of Juliaca.
The beginning of the cooperative's operations was characterised by informality and the absence of any heavy machinery, but thanks to growing revenues and with the support of its umbrella organisation CECOMSAP, it began the process of formalisation, which it completed in 2017. Exports are organised through CECOMSAP.