Analyzing a deadly confrontation to understand the roots of conflict in artisanal and small-scale mining: A case study from Arequipa, Peru

Payne Institute Research Associate Aaron Malone, Faculty Fellow Nicole M. Smith, Eliseo Zeballos Zeballos, Rolando Quispe Aquino, Ubaldo Tapia Huamaní, Jerónimo Miguel Gutiérrez Soncco, Guido Salas, Zacarias Madariaga Coaquira, Jose Herrera Bedoya write about how conflicts around large-scale mining are common and widely researched, but artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) features sparingly in the mining conflict literature, despite the prevalence of ASM conflicts. This paper examines ASM conflicts, focusing on a central case study from Arequipa, Peru, where violence between rival ASM groups and a mining company resulted in 15 deaths between 2020 and 2022. June 7, 2023.