Death mines in Peru received Swiss tax money

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A fire in a tunnel at the Yanaquihua gold mine in southern Peru killed 27 workers in early May. A short circuit may have caused the fire. It is Peru’s worst mining accident in two decades.

People in Switzerland are also appalled. Because all the gold from the mine is exported to Switzerland, reports the “NZZ am Sonntag”. It goes to the Metalor refinery in Neuchâtel. The federal government has expressed its condolences to the bereaved families and the people of Peru.

60,000 francs for the accident mine

The mine in Peru belongs to «Swiss Better Gold”, a program of the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (sec) in collaboration with the gold processing industry. Launched in 2013, the federal government will inject CHF 18 million by 2025, according to “NZZ am Sonntag”. Money to promote small-scale mining and improve “social and environmental conditions,” as the initiative puts it. Specifically, CHF 60,000 went to the accident mine in Peru.

According to the report, a promotional video for the initiative presents it as a company that puts safety first. But there are doubts about that. A Peruvian investigative journalist refers to the “NZZ am Sonntag” on figures from the Peruvian authorities, according to which there have been more than 190 serious accidents at the Yanaquihua mine in the past ten years. Four miners have died since 2018.

Watched too little

“Swiss Better Gold” director Thomas Hentschel, on the other hand, speaks of a “model company”. “It’s one of the really good mines we have in Peru,” Henschel told the paper. He couldn’t explain the tragedy. The claims made by the relatives of the miners killed in the accident that there was an insecurity in the tunnels are speculative.

However, the initiative has never carried out on-site inspections. Instead, they rely on certification from the Responsible Jewelery Council. Hentschel admits that perhaps one has not looked closely enough and announces that he will go through the books. (lha)

Source:Blick