Peru ramps up fight against illegal mining, kicks most informal miners off permit scheme

Peru's government has excluded 50,500 informal miners from a temporary program that would allow them to continue operations, the minister of energy and mines said on Friday.

Only 30,500 small-scale miners will remain in the program, called REINFO, to seek formalization and the government will reinforce its efforts against illegal miners, minister Jorge Montero told a local radio station.