The move is part of the new government’s strategy to rebuild trust on the project following deadly protests from locals, which halted exports from the mine, one of the world’s biggest copper pits, in October. Residents were blocking the roads leading to the mine and clashes left one protester dead and 20 police injured. Authorities had approved the mine’s environmental plan, which called for concentrates to be carried to ports by trucks instead of through a pipeline, as initially proposed.

In recent months, residents have been protesting because they said they were not consulted on the revisions to the plan and due to the ongoing noise and high levels of dust caused by hundreds of heavy vehicles that use unpaved roads close to their homes. Las Bambas produced 35,000 metric tons (mt) of the red metal in August, or almost a fifth of Peru’s overall output, official data shows. The operation is set to deliver 400,000 mt of copper per year during the first five years of production.