March 19 (Reuters) - Peruvian zinc, lead and silver miner Volcan, backed by global commodities giant Glencore Plc , will halt activity at three of its mines in the country from Tuesday as it works on updating an operating permit for its Rumichaca tailings dam.
The Peruvian firm said in a statement, posted to the local regulator, that it would suspend its operations in the San Cristobal, Carahuacra and Ticlio mines in the center of the country for up to 30 days.
Peru is the world's second largest producer of copper, silver and zinc, which are key to its economy. Sales of the metals are equivalent to 60% of all the country's exports.
The mines are part of the Yauli mining unit, located in the department of Junin, 170 kilometers (105.63 miles) from capital Lima, which produces zinc, lead, silver and copper. The Rumichaca tailings dam is in the same area.
The company did not specify what impact the suspension of activities would have on production, but said that during the shutdown period "all the necessary care and maintenance work will be carried out to restart operations as soon as possible."
(Reporting by Juana Casas in Santiago, editing by Deepa Babington)
