Cerro Verde, a Freeport-McMoRan Company, Supports Entrepreneurial Development

The Cerro Verde Mining Company’s Emprende program supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the geographical regions surrounding the mining operations, which are located near Arequipa, Peru.

Cerro Verde has invested over $575,000 in the program since 2010. The program provides financial support and technical assistance to entrepreneurs. The Emprende project supports businesses in the districts of Uchumayo, Tiabaya, Yarabamba and La Joya.

One such program is the Livestock Project. The Livestock Project has worked with over 500 local producers and provides training and material assistance for villagers in the district of Yarambamba and surrounding towns for chicken farming and egg production. The eggs are marketed in Yarambamba and Arequipa. Many of the chicken farmers have achieved enough success to independently acquire more birds and expand their businesses.

Another program provides machine weaving training to hand weavers, including preparation for spinning and dying natural fibers, garment creation, marketing and quality control. The Yachaqmaki weaving collective, which is a group of 38 entrepreneur artisans, have been able to develop new alpaca wool products and increase their current levels of production and supply.

Cerro Verde promotes the creation, improvement and development of micro and small enterprises through its various programs.

For further information about Freeport-McMoRan’s community investments, please see http://www.fcx.com/sd/community/comm_invest.htm

Please see the 2014 Working Toward Sustainable Development Report for more information on all of their social, economic and environmental efforts.