In this Aug. 21, 2012 photo, residents protest the Conga gold and silver mining project as they march past the Mamacocha Lagoon in Mamachocha, Peru, in the highlands of the northern state of Cajamarca. The mostly subsistence farmers who live downstream of what would become Peru's biggest open-pit gold mine oppose the project, known as Conga, for one simple reason: Water. The project would destroy four mountain lakes in order to extract more than 200 tons of gold. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia).
LA ENCANADA, Peru — The farmers who live downstream of what would become Peru's biggest open-pit gold mine oppose the project, known as Conga, for one simple reason: Water.
"Everything would dry up," says German Sangay, the mayor of Combayo, if Congas is not halted.
The project on 11.5 square miles (more than 3,000 hectares) of highlands in the northern state of Cajamarca would destroy four mountain lakes in order to extract more than 200 tons of gold.
The consortium that runs it, and whose majority owner is U.S.-based Newmont Mining Co., says it will build four reservoirs to replace the lakes.
But local elected officials including Sangay aren't persuaded. Combayo's nearly 4,000 peasant farmers draw on 30 different springs to grow corn and potatoes and raise cattle and sheep and fear Conga would taint and diminish them, he says.
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