Informal and illegal gold miners account for some 20% of Peruvian gold exports. Centred on Madre de Díos in south-eastern Peru, the industry is responsible for deforestation and the contamination of rivers with mercury. The legislation to formalize the sector was passed in 2012 but only recently implemented, with a deadline for registration of April 19. Violent protests erupted with blockages of traffic on the Interoceanic Highway linking the Pacific coast with Brazil. Miners without permits to use the land they are working have no possibility of formalisation.

The protests in ten of Peru’s regions have led to clashes with police, with the death of two miners and some 50 people injured. The governor of the Madre de Díos region, Jorge Aldázabal, ended up in hospital following a hunger strike in Lima that he and other officials from the region conducted in protest at the severity of the crackdown. Protestors also criticised the negative impact on their region of fuel restrictions supposedly aimed at reining in illegal mining. They are seeking a negotiated solution.

As the April 19 deadline expired , some 73,000 miners had applied to register. They will now have 120 days to complete the process of formalisation. Informal miners may be subject to a bill still to be passed by Congress giving the government powers to regulate documentation and set fuel quotas for informal mining operating within the law. Some 40,000 miners remain outside the law. The government to date has closed 13 illegal gold mines and put four exporters on trial, according to Daniel Orresti, the High Commissioner in charge of formalisation.