Peru's Government Reaches a Deal With Unlicensed Gold Miners

The government has set an April 19 deadline for unlicensed miners to start the process of becoming formalized, which is meant to be completed by 2016.
Energy and Mines Minister Eleodoro Mayorga said in a meeting Thursday with the foreign press that the government remains firm in its April 19 deadline.
"Those miners that don't start the formalization process by April 19 will be in an illegal position," he said.
Mr. Mayorga added that reaching a deal with unlicensed miners in the southern Madre de Dios region will be difficult to achieve, as most of the mining there takes place in rivers.
Illegal mining is prevalent in Peru, though experts say about half of the activity is concentrated in the southern regions of Puno, Madre de Dios and Cusco.
The unregulated gold mining has devastated thousands of hectares of forests and caused widespread mercury contamination of water and fishing sources.
Peru is the world's sixth largest gold mining nation in terms of production.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140327-711065.html