The men were killed in a region that has seen growing conflict over access to ore in recent years. The mine has also been a hotbed of illegal gold mining.

Thirteen miners have been found dead inside a mine in Peru after being kidnapped several days earlier. They were working at a gold mine owned by Peruvian mining company Poderosa, which is based in Pataz province, north of the capital Lima.

Much of Peru is awash in a wave of crime that prompted the government to declare a state of emergency last month​.