Details
Country: Peru
Fairtrade certified in: 2015
Main products:
Gold and precious metals
The gold mining organisation San Antonio de Ananea
Peru is one of the most important gold producing countries in the world. Besides the large international mining companies, there are many smaller mines that represent the majority of the gold mining workforce. One of them is the cooperative Minera San Antonio de Ananea in the southern Peruvian region of Puno. It is one of the ten cooperatives that together form the umbrella organisation CECOMSAP - Central de Cooperativas Mineras San Antonio de Poto.
Projects using Fairtrade Premium
Organisation and productivity:
- Furnishing of the office of the premium committee.
- Renovation of the chutes to improve the efficiency of the gold leaching process
- Relocation of the processing plant to a new location
- Purchases of a melting oven with a fume bonnet and gas cylinders for the processing of the raw gold
Workers and working conditions:
- Improvement of the changing and recreation rooms
- Purchase of protective clothing for the workers
- Further training of cooperative workers in another mining region on extraction techniques, health and safety regulations, among other things
Environment:
- Cleaning of settling and water clarification ponds to improve water quality and prevent flooding
- Installation of water treatment plants including sludge pumps and filtration systems to reduce water pollution from mining.
Social projects:
- Donation of sportswear to a local school
- Christmas gift baskets for the cooperative's employees
- Toys as Christmas presents for 80 children in the community
- Participation of cooperative members in sporting events
- Social support for mining community members to strengthen institutional links with local communities and institutions such as schools.
About the cooperative
The people of Ananea have traditionally lived from alpaca breeding and wool production. Although this work is an important part of their identity, it did not offer these people enough economic prospects. Therefore, the inhabitants of Ananea found an alternative activity in gold mining to overcome their poverty.
The beginning of the operations of the Cooperativa Minera San Antonio de Ananea was characterised by informality and the absence of any heavy machinery. Thanks to growing income and with the support of their umbrella organisation CECOMSAP, the miners were able to manage the process of formalisation. CECOMSAP also organises exports.