Peru’s biggest copper mines have been able to sustain production despite road blockades, attacks and protests. The South American nation has been gripped by anti-government protests since the December 7 ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo.

Peru's biggest copper mines have been able to maintain production despite road blockades, attacks and protests that have roiled the Andean nation for over two months and led to warnings of production halts, an analysis showed on Wednesday.

The analysis of power usage data by Reuters at some of the key mines in Peru, the world's no. 2 copper producer, indicates that activity at the deposits remains near normal levels, although a source close to one major mine said the risk of stoppages was rising.

The South American nation has been gripped by anti-government protests since the December 7 ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo. Highways have been blockaded throughout the copper-rich south, threatening production and transport of the metal, hitting some company shares, and boosting already high prices.

But the data suggests mining activity has been resilient, at least for now.

This includes massive deposit Las Bambas, owned by China's MMG Ltd, which previously said it would have to halt production from Febuary 1 and Glencore's Antapaccay, which stopped production in mid-January but has since resumed.

The power data from COES, which represents firms in Peru's energy sector, shows that nearly all major mines are drawing normal or near-normal levels of electricity. The data has traditionally been a reliable indicator of mining activity.