Details
Country: Peru
Fairtrade certified in: 2017
Main products:
Gold and precious metals
The gold mining organisation Cooperativa Minera Los Andes 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 Los Andes 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:
- Maintenance of the chute.
- Construction of a workshop for the maintenance of machines and tools
- Furnishing of the cooperative's offices
- Improvement of the gold panning equipment to increase gold recovery
- Construction of a building and purchase of foundry equipment and thermal uniforms to enable gold to be melted down into doré bars for direct export.
Workers and working conditions:
- Purchase of radios for easier communication between workers.
- Purchase of fire extinguishers
- Purchase of protective clothing
- Establishment and improvement of mining camps for the well-being and comfort of members, workers and visitors. This includes, among other things, the purchase of kitchen and cooking utensils.
- Investment in health and safety equipment including Covid-19 prevention and testing, mine signalling systems.
Environment:
- Cleaning of settling and water clarification ponds to prevent water and environmental pollution.
- Establishment of a landfill for hazardous waste
Social projects:
- Further training of cooperative members and workers on accounting, money laundering, roles and functions of partners and managers
About the cooperative
The people of Ananea have traditionally lived from alpaca breeding and wool production. Although this work is an important part of their identity, it did not offer these people sufficient economic perspectives. Therefore, the inhabitants of Ananea found an alternative activity in gold mining to overcome their poverty.
The Cooperativa Minera Los Andes de Ananea Ltda. was founded in 2003. The mine of the cooperative is located at an altitude of 4600 to 4900m. The majority of the members 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 CECOMSAP, it began the process of formalisation, which it was able to complete in 2017.