Bear Creek sees 12-month delay to Santa Ana ESIA process, considers legal action

A new resolution issued by Peru's government will further delay the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) approval process for Vancouver-based Bear Creek Mining's (TSX-V: BCM) Santa Ana silver project in Puno region, the company reported in a release. The process has been suspended for 12 months until May 2012 to allow for the return of normal conditions in the region. "The company believes that the temporary suspension of the Santa Ana ESIA process is based on weak legal grounds in that the action is based upon recent regional protests as opposed to the technical merits or procedures relating to its ESIA submission," the release said. Bear Creek is evaluating legal alternatives and may appeal to the mining council, which oversees the mines and energy ministry's ( MEM) procedures and rulings. "We continue to believe that these protests and government responses are the result of the pre-election political climate. We remain confident that the protests will be successfully resolved," CEO Andrew Swarthout said. Production at Santa Ana, located in Chucuito province, was scheduled to begin in 2H12. PROTESTS Residents began protests on May 9 and are demanding the cancellation of Santa Ana; the revocation of seven mining concessions in Huacullani and Kelluyo acquired by Bear Creek in 2007; and the definitive cancellation of all mining and oil concessions in the region. Protests will be temporarily suspended to allow people to vote in the June 5 presidential election, news service RPP reported. "We want to facilitate the election and that's why we have agreed to give a period from [Wednesday] to June 7," protest leader Walter Aduviri said. If the demands of the residents are not met after the election, protests will resume. "If we aren't listened to, we will call a regional protest on June 8," Aduviri added. Local authorities have said that the demonstrations are being supported by Puno's opposition Raíces party, which controls the regional council. The party has been organizing the protests to put pressure on the administration of regional president Mauricio Rodríguez of the Aquí party. Some analysts believe the root cause of the protests is the rapid growth of mining concessions in the region during the last decade. From 2002-10, mining concessions in Puno increased 270%, making it one of the most concessioned regions in the country, according to the head of community rights and extractive industries at Lima-based NGO Cooperacción, José de Echave.