ESG

"We are very pleased to announce the … conclusion of the illegal blockade"

Lupaka regains access to Peru project after plus-4 month demonstration

Staff reporter

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However despite the blockade being lifted, the company said its access was still limited due to heavy rainfall damaging roads in the area.

Lupaka had hoped to have Invicta in production in the third quarter of 2018, however the 90%-complete project has been blockaded since late October by community members from Paran.

At the time, Lupaka said it had a productive and positive relationship with the Lacsanga and Santo Domingo communities, which were directly impacted by Invicta, but did not had an agreement with the Paran community as Invicta's main access road was not on Paran lands.

In an update in January, Lupaka said it understood the demonstration was due to a land conflict between two communities, with Paran people protesting on Lacsanga land.

High-level officials mines department and support from the prime minister's office had helped with negotiations, with Lupaka saying yesterday that discussions between community leaders and authorities had resulted in the end of the demonstration.

Lupaka said it had agreed to enter "a formal dialogue table" with Paran to re-establish a positive working relationship with the community.

"We are very pleased to announce the positive conclusion of the illegal blockade and would like to thank our employees, the authorities, and our community partners that worked together to reach this successful result," president and CEO Will Ansley said.

However access to site remains limited, with Lupaka saying access roads from both the Lacsanga and Paran routes had been damaged by heavy rainfalls, and partial access possible from Paran.

Lupaka said Paran had granted access to site and the company was in the process of conducting a full inspection to ensure mine infrastructure had not been impacted by the prolonged demonstration.

It expected to restore full access within a few weeks.

Lupaka plans to produce an average 33,700 ounces gold-equivalent annually at an all-in sustaining cost of US$575/oz over an initial six years, according to a 2018 preliminary economic assessment.
 
The company last month took steps to shore up its finances as the blockade continued.

It announced a non-brokered placement at C6c per unit to raise up to $1 million and a liquidity improvement programme, to convert $850,000 in bridge loans and short-term accounts payable into units on the same terms. A further $450,000 of accounts payable was to be restructured into long-term notes.

Lupaka shares, which were worth 29c a year ago, are close to a 52-week low and last traded at 7c, capitalising it at $8.6 million.

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