Team Canada Trade Missions

Case Study

Manhattan Minerals in Peru

In 1998, a little-known mining junior called Manhattan Minerals Corp. joined a Canadian government trade and investment mission to Latin America. The following year, the corrupt Fujimori government in Peru granted the company mining concessions totaling 10,000 hectares. Because the concession area was close to the Ecuadorian border, Manhattan required a number of special government approvals. The company never acquired the requisite approvals but forged ahead with its exploration activity.

Manhattan's concession included the town of Tambogrande in the San Lorenzo Valley. This area, an oasis along Peru's barren coast, had been transformed into a major agricultural centre through a World Bank-financed irrigation system. It now produces 40 percent of the country's limes and 38 percent of its mangoes. The local community, which depends on agriculture for its livelihood, was concerned about scarce local water resources and the contamination caused by gold mining. The municipality held a referendum on mining–the first of its kind in the world–that was monitored by international observers. Virtually all voters opposed the mine.¹ The Tambogrande referendum, which played a vital part in halting the project, has since been replicated by other communities threatened by mining projects.²