PERU · SECURITY · MINING
Key Facts
- —The country Peru is a major gold producer. In parts of the country, illegal gold mining is run by armed criminal groups that fight over mines and ore.
- —What happened On Saturday 17 October Peru’s attorney general, Tomás Gálvez Villegas, warned that Hualgayoc district in the Cajamarca region risks becoming “the new Pataz”. He named Algamarca in Cajabamba and Sorochuco in Celendín as also crowded with illegal miners.
- —What Pataz is Pataz is a gold province in the La Libertad region where 13 contract workers were murdered in May 2025. It remains under a state of emergency with the armed forces in charge, extended again from 3 October.
- —The response On Friday 16 October Gálvez opened a specialised environmental prosecutor’s office in Hualgayoc province. It starts with one provincial prosecutor and four assistant prosecutors.
- —What it means for you Cajamarca is home to the Yanacocha gold mine of Denver-based Newmont, and New York-listed Gold Fields mines in the Hualgayoc district. Newmont warns investors that illegal miners operate on or near some of its sites, including in Peru.
- —Power Index Peru ranks 5th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 54.7 points (October 2026 edition).
- —Still open How many illegal miners work in the three areas, and whether the government will send troops as it did in Pataz.
Peru’s attorney general, Tomás Gálvez Villegas, warned on Saturday 17 October that illegal gold mining could turn Hualgayoc, a district in the northern Cajamarca region, into “the new Pataz”, the gold province where gang violence forced the government to put the army in charge. He named two more areas of Cajamarca, Algamarca in Cajabamba province and Sorochuco in Celendín province, as “totally congested with illegal miners”.
The warning matters beyond Peru because Cajamarca is one of the country’s main gold regions, home to the Yanacocha mine of Denver-based Newmont, which calls itself the world’s leading gold company. Gálvez made the remarks to the radio network RPP a day after opening a new environmental prosecutor’s office in Hualgayoc province.
What the Attorney General Said
“In the province of Hualgayoc, specifically in the district of Hualgayoc, illegal mining has advanced enormously,” Gálvez told RPP, adding that illegal miners have been in Algamarca “for a long time”. The miners have advanced so far, he said, “that there is a risk this area becomes the new Pataz”.
He described criminal organisations linked to illegal mining as the most dangerous kind, because they handle huge sums of money that turn into illicit economies with power and territorial control. “At this moment we must take aim at the fight against illegal mining,” he said, adding that extortion and contract killings would not be neglected.
Gálvez also urged residents to report illegal miners to the authorities. “A handful of opportunists cannot seize all the wealth of the province or the district,” he said, according to the regional news network RCR.
A New Prosecutor’s Office in Hualgayoc
On Friday 16 October Gálvez opened a new seat of the Specialised Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in Hualgayoc province, the Ministerio Público, Peru’s public prosecution service, announced. The office starts with one provincial prosecutor, four assistant prosecutors and administrative staff, and the team of technical experts in Cajamarca has been reinforced, RCR reported.
“We hope with this to give an immediate response, at least in the province of Hualgayoc, to this scourge of illegal mining,” Gálvez said, adding that Sorochuco and Algamarca would follow. He gave no timetable for those two areas.
Gálvez, a supreme prosecutor, was elected attorney general for 2026 to 2029 by the Board of Supreme Prosecutors on 23 March 2026, after serving as interim head of the service since September 2025. He has asked Congress to double the prosecution service’s budget, saying the 16 percent increase proposed by the government is not enough, RCR reported.
Why Pataz Is the Benchmark
Pataz is a gold-mining province in the La Libertad region, south of Cajamarca, where criminal groups tied to illegal mining have fought over mines for years. In May 2025, after 13 workers of a contractor for the Poderosa mining company were murdered, the government suspended mining in the area for 30 days and put the armed forces in charge.
The province remains under a state of emergency, extended most recently by Supreme Decree 137-2026-PCM for 60 days from 3 October 2026, with the armed forces in control of internal order and the National Police in support. That decision is covered in Peru Extends Pataz State of Emergency by 60 Days.
Cajamarca’s Long Fight With Informal Miners
Officials in Cajamarca have warned about the spread of illegal mining for some time. In May 2025 the regional government’s natural resources office told the state news agency Andina that more than 70 percent of small-scale mining workers in the region were operating illegally, the trade site Minería & Energía reported.
The same official said many miners active in Hualgayoc, Celendín and Cajamarca provinces were using formalisation registrations from other provinces, which is not legal. Peru lets informal miners keep working while they formalise if they are listed on a registry known as Reinfo, which Congress has extended.
What It Means for You
For US investors, Cajamarca is not a remote story: Newmont, headquartered in Denver, owns 100 percent of Yanacocha, about 48 kilometres north of the city of Cajamarca. In its latest annual report to US regulators, Newmont warns that artisanal, small-scale and illegal miners are active on or next to some of its African and South American properties, including in Peru.
Gold Fields, a South African miner whose shares trade in New York, runs the Cerro Corona gold and copper mine in the Hualgayoc mining district, according to its own US filing. With gold above US$4,000 an ounce, the money to be made from illegal mining keeps growing, and so do the security risks for legal operators nearby.
What Is Not Known
Gálvez gave no figures for the number of illegal miners in Hualgayoc, Algamarca or Sorochuco, or for violence linked to them. It is not known whether the government plans an emergency declaration or a military deployment in Cajamarca like the one in Pataz.
Prosecutors have not said which criminal organisations, if any, they believe control illegal mining in these areas. No public response to the warning from the Cajamarca regional government or from the mining companies operating nearby had been published by Monday 19 October.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Peru’s attorney general warn about Hualgayoc?
Tomás Gálvez Villegas warned on 17 October 2026 that illegal mining could turn Hualgayoc, in the Cajamarca region, into “the new Pataz”. He also named Algamarca and Sorochuco as crowded with illegal miners.
What is Pataz?
Pataz is a gold-mining province in Peru’s La Libertad region where criminal groups tied to illegal mining operate. It is under a state of emergency with the armed forces in charge, extended most recently from 3 October 2026.
What is Peru doing about illegal mining in Cajamarca?
The public prosecution service opened a specialised environmental prosecutor’s office in Hualgayoc province on 16 October 2026. The attorney general said Sorochuco and Algamarca would follow.
Sources: Ministerio Público, post on X on the Hualgayoc office, 16 October 2026, Andina, attorney general on Hualgayoc, 17 October 2026, Gestión, prosecutors warn of a new Pataz, 18 October 2026, RCR, Cajamarca at risk of a new Pataz, 18 October 2026, El Peruano, Board of Supreme Prosecutors resolution 012-2026-MP-FN-JFS, 24 March 2026, El Peruano, Pataz emergency extended, 2 October 2026, Diario Correo, Pataz killings and mining suspension, 6 May 2025, Minería & Energía, Cajamarca regional government on illegal miners, 6 May 2025, ProActivo, Cajamarca council on Reinfo, 22 January 2025, Newmont, annual report on Form 10-K for 2025, Gold Fields, annual report on Form 20-F for 2024. All retrieved 19 October 2026. Quotes are translated from Spanish.
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