Ten injured at Peru mine strike protest

[Bacchus39]

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LIMA — At least 10 people were injured Tuesday in clashes between protesters and police amid an ongoing strike at a gold mine in northern Peru, officials said.

Seven of the injured were civilians hit with rubber bullets, the other three were policemen pelted with stones in clashes after protesters attempted to enter buildings at the Conga mine, regional prefect Ever Hernandez told AFP.

The protests against the $4.8-billion Conga Project run by US-based Newmont Mining Corporation have brought Peru's northern Cajamarca department to a near standstill in recent days, with locals vehemently against plans to open a gold mine they say will sully water supplies, risking their health.

The issue prompted deputy environment minister Jose De Echave to resign on Monday, calling official environmental impact studies for the major mining project "weak, outdated and lacking in credibility," and telling AFP the government lacked "an adequate strategy for dealing with social conflict."

The protests have been simmering for days, with a mob of some 1,500 demonstrators setting fire to a local warehouse, and protests held throughout the department, which has a population of some 1.4 million.