On December 11th it became publicly known that Manhattan Minerals had lost its main concessions under the Peruvian village of Tambogrande - on a technicality. The Peruvian government had been looking for a politically viable way out of a highly charged situation, and its solution was to ignore the environmental assessment process already underway and instead force the company to show that it met certain requirements to keep the concessions.

Manhattan had until December 1st to file information showing that it had $100 million US in capital and a 10,000-tonne-per-day mill, and despite a last-minute effort to have the deadline extended and an improvised alliance with Wheaton River Minerals (revealed by the Peruvian Minister of Mines), it failed. The residents of Tambogrande, who have staunchly opposed the project, were greatly relieved. It is also a success for Peru's wobbly democracy, since the community had challenged the company and the Peruvian government to respect their clearly-expressed desires.

MiningWatch Canada had long been pressuring Manhattan to respect the community's wishes, and we congratulate the community on this well-deserved success.