Peru Congress extends permit scheme for informal miners

LIMA (Reuters) -Peru's Congress passed late on Friday passed an extension to a scheme allowing temporary permits to be given to small-scale informal miners, controversial due to accusations by opponents that it has been misused to expand illegal mining.

Legislators moved forward a bill proposed earlier in the day by the Energy and Mining Legislative Committee to extend for six months a registry called REINFO, which allows small-scale miners to continue working while seeking formalization.

The resolution states a one-time extension for the temporary permits.

REINFO, which has already been extended multiple times, expires on Dec. 31. The government has pushed for the scheme to end, claiming that its misuse over more than a decade has caused illegal mining to increase.

On Tuesday, Energy and Mines Minister Romulo Mucho was removed from his post by Congress amid protests by small-scale miners who are demanding REINFO be extended by two years.

Peruvian small-scale miners, mainly gold miners, have rejected the bill as inadequate and have been blocking a key southern transport route for over a week. In Lima, hundreds of artisanal miners have camped out in front of the legislature.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and William Mallard)

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