Evaluation of environmental and social impacts from the Pachapaqui Mine expansion to 3,300 tons of ore per day (MTD).
The Pachapaqui Mine is located in the district of Aquia, Province of Bolognesi, Ancash Region. This land is administered by the Aquia rural community (Comunidad Campesina de Aquia).
The project considers expanding the processing capacity of its underground mining operations to 3,300 MTD. It includes the construction of the following components: new smelter with production capacity of up to 2,500 MTD, new tailings storage facility, new mine waste storage facility, and other ancillary facilities.
The consulting work included processing the historic monitoring data as well as conducting supplementary field assessments during wet and dry seasons in order to characterize the environmental and biological conditions in the project study zone (baseline in Puna zone). Regarding the social aspects, surveys and focus groups were applied to characterize the direct area of influence.
The EIA, based on which the corresponding environmental and social management strategies were designed, led to the development of an environmental compensation plan according to the current national regulations. This study included estimating the ecological value and the conservation status of the wetlands that would be affected by the project implementation, as well as establishing the restoration and/or conservation measures in an ecologically equivalent area, and the follow-up of the success indicators during the useful life of the project. The purpose of this is to ensure maintenance of the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, obtaining a net profit of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
On the other hand, the social study involved the identification, assessment, and valuation of the lands that would be affected by the implementation of the components requiring either reparation or relocation.The EIA amendment of Pachapaqui Mine for its expansion to 3,300 MTD was approved by the Directorate Resolution R.D. N° 023-2017-SENACE-JEF/DEAR on December 1st, 2017.
