1992: The Yanacocha company starts buying plots of land from local farmers at 100/s Nuevo Sol (26 Euro) per hectare. Exploration operations begin without any licences. The first complaints of pollution are made by the parish of Porcón.

1993: Newmont Mining Corporation starts gold mining in Yanacocha.

1994: The first trial against Yanacocha for buying and selling plots of land in Combayo. An out-of-court settlement closes the case.

January 2000: The Ministry of Fishing reports the death of over 10,000 trout in the Porcón River. Another 11,000 trout are found dead in Bambamarca’s Llaucano River in. A report on the condition of the Rejo River water shows that cadmium, lead and mercury are above the maximum quantities permitted. Yanacocha admit their part in what the report terms ‘industrial assassination.’

June 2 2000: 151 kg of mercury are spilt in Choropampa, poisoning more than 1,000 citizens due to the mercury’s toxicity. Yanacocha makes out-of-court settlements with most of the poisoned citizens, while others file lawsuits in US Courts.

October 2000: The Cajamarca Provisional Government declares Mount Quilish a natural reserve, as the waters coming from the mountain are the main water source for local farmers and Cajamarca residents. Yanacocha appeals to the Constitutional Court against the declaration.

March 2001: The ‘Federación de Rondas Campesinas Femeninas del Norte del Perú’ (FEROCAFENOP - Federation Of Women’s Self-Defense Committees of Northern Peru) and American NGO Project Underground, file a complaint with the World Bank Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) - which performs the role of arbitrator and advisor on issues relating to the social and environmental outcomes of IFC projects - denouncing the impacts of the mine on local water and farming.

June 2001: The CAO assesses the complaint, and sets up a ‘Roundtable Dialogue’ to begin in September, in order to settle the conflict between the community and corporation. Over 50 public and private institutions take part in more than four years of Roundtable Dialogue. The discussions are based on two complaints: the first, submitted by community leaders, relates to the mercury spill, while the second, submitted by FEROCAFENOP, is on negative social, environmental and economic impacts. The Roundtable does not lead to any positive resolution for the problems outlined by local residents.

November 2001: Roundtable Dialogue, part of the Temporary Council for Regional Administration (CTAR), and active before the installation of Regional Governments, is started in response to the sometimes violent protests carried out by Cajamarca residents. It finally leads to agreement on: an independent International environmental assessment (later carried out by Ingetec); the installation of a water analysis laboratory (never realised); the implementation of a water monitoring plan (partially and unreliably developed by the Water Quality Monitoring Committee or COMOCA); and the protection of water sources. When the Mount Quilish issue is raised, the corporation representative and the Minister for Energy and Mining leave the table.

2002: The year in which the most environmental incidents occur in Yanacocha. Fish continue to die.

2003: INGETEC claims that all the city water sources are affected by the mine and that Yanacocha has not proposed any alternative ideas to the problems.

April 2003: Yanococha requests permission to explore Mount Quilish. The Constitutional Court authorises the exploration and exploitation of Mount Quilish, invalidating the Provisional Government declaration in 2000.

December 2003: A consultancy firm hired by the World Bank analyses the mercury spill in 2000. The results relieve the corporation of any responsibilities and from any obligation to pay compensation.

2004: In March, the Yanacocha Consortium submits an environmental impact assessment for the exploration of Mount Quilish, which is approved in June. In July the Minister for Energy and Mining announces the resumption of explorations on Mount Quilish.

September 2004: On learning of the EIA approval, Cajamarca residents mobilise in order to stop operations on Mount Quilish. Approximately 50,000 rural and urban residents block access to the mine for two weeks. Protesters obtain the enforcement of the 2000 declaration making Mount Quilish a protected area.

2005: Choropampa residents affected by the mercury spill in 2000 file a lawsuit against Newmont to the US Federal Court in Denver.

March 2006: Environmental NGO Grupo de Formación e Intervención para el Desarrollo Sostenible (GRUFIDES - Training and Intervention Group for Sustainable Development) files a complaint with the Latin American Water Tribunal against the impacts produced by mining activities in Yanacocha. The Tribunal accepts the basis of the lawsuit and pronounces an ethical sentence against the Peruvian Government and the corporation. Yanacocha mine workers go on strike for better working conditions. The strike ends on April 17.

August 2006: Community leaders and farmers from Combayo rally outside the mining site, denouncing Yanacocha for disregarding agreements on social investments and job creation. They also denounce the mine’s effects on water quality and quantity. Security guards from the private firm FORZA, including off duty policemen, repress any opposition. Farmer Isidro Llano dies. Several farmers’ leaders are reported to the police. Magistrates from Baños del Inca find weapons and ammunition in the Yanacocha plant. At the height of tension, the corporation threatens to suspend all activities in Cajamarca. Faced with this threat, mine workers are forced to join the fight against GRUFIDES. The conflict only comes to an end when the Prime Minister intervenes with a set of proposals.

August 2006: The Corporation submits its Carachugo II project, an extension to the Yanacocha mine. Protests break out again between local people and security guards, resulting in one dead, five wounded, and four farmers arrested by the national Police.

November 2006: Edmundo Becerra Corina, President of ‘A System for Drinkable Water and the protection of Life, Water and the Environment in Yanacanchilla’, is killed by a soldier. Becerra was about to travel to Lima with a committee opposing the Yanacocha mining project.

December 2006: An investigation by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reveals details of ‘Operation Diablo’, a spy operation aimed at vilifying members of GRUFIDES and environmentalist leaders from Cajamarca, the victims of months of death threats.

March 2007: Another mercury spill affects villages in the San Juan region.

March 2007: Police in Cajabamba confiscate 150 kg of cyanide and other chemicals destined for non-specialist mineworkers. The episode reveals the problems of unsafe practices; deaths by poisoning, serious environmental impacts and child labour. A working group is created on the subject. Yanacocha workers file a complaint against the corporation for violating labour laws.

April 2007: According to Law D.S. 015, passed by the central Government, local administrations are no longer allowed to declare new protected areas and municipal preservation areas. Months before, several municipalities started the procedures necessary to convert mining related areas into protected areas.

May 2007: Residents of San Juan report the presence of mercury. The Regional Committee for Civil Defence makes enquires but Yanacocha rejects any connection to the incident. The General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA) states that there is no evidence of mercury contamination. Newmont shareholders, worried about the conflicts with Peruvian, Ghanaian and Indonesian people, almost unanimously decide to change corporate policy towards local communities.

June 2007: Farmers from the Totorocoche community, in the La Encañada region, protest against the Yanacocha mine. The Police and corporation security guards repress the protests and arrest 13 farmers. There is fighting in front of Cajamarca Police station.

August 2007: There is increasing tension between Quishuar irrigators and the Yanacocha Company, who are blamed for water pollution.

September 2007: Attempts are made to block roads in Porcón in protest at a lack of work and the violation of worker rights; the Police violently disperse protesters in Porcón Bajo marching against the contamination of irrigation ditches. Inspectors in Cajamarca report employment irregularities in several Yanacocha firms.

December 2007: The Supreme Court meets to decide whether Choropampa citizens can file another complaint over the mercury spill. The Mayor of Porcón Bajo and other 32 citizens are put on trial for being part of the September 11, protest rally.

January 20, 2008: Melanio Silva, the ex-Director of Rondas Campesinas (Autonomous peasant patrols), is murdered.

January 30, 2008: Yanacocha appeals for the cancellation of the municipal order protecting the Northern Peru Lagoons Area.

February 2008: A possible hydrocarbon spill in the “Linda Chinaâ€� yard belonging to Yanacocha intoxicates workers as they clean it. The workers are taken to Lima without their families’ authorisation.

March 2008: Road blocks are erected in La Ramada to demand the restitution of water from Monte Negro; businessmen block the road from Cajamarca to Bambamarca demanding fairer treatment from Yanacocha. In Huambocancha Alta citizens block the same road for a week demanding water purification. Protest marches against water pollution take place in several towns.

April 18, 2008: Judges in Cajamarca demand a 6-year prison term, plus civil damages, for 28 Porcón Bajo citizens involved in the roadblock. Citizens hold protest rallies demanding that the trial is cancelled.

The Supreme Court of Justice rejects the appeal by Choropampa citizens against the Yanacocha mine and the RANSA Company for the mercury spill in 2000.

April-May 2008: The Police repress several protests.

June 2008: A dispute arises between Yanacocha and the Northern Peru Lagoons Defence Front.

December 2008: The Civil Court and the Lima Supreme Court reject Yanacocha demand for the cancellation of the order protecting Northern Peru lagoons.

The exploration and exploitation of Minas Congas is supposed to finish in 2008 but, due to a fall in the price of raw materials and a lack of funds for new investments, any decision on the mining project is postponed until early 2009.

May 5, 2010: The European Parliament adopts a resolution calling for a ban on the use of cyanide mining technologies in the EU.