Peru"s prime minister said on Wednesday a 26-day road blockade affecting MMG Ltd"s (1208.HK) Las Bambas copper mine cannot be sustained for "much longer," as talks continue to stall with a local community while the mine faces a looming shutdown. "These dialogues sometimes can include delays, because reaching a consensus is not easy," prime minister Mirtha Vasquez told reporters about the conflict. "But we cannot sustain this situation for much longer." Residents of the Chumbivilcas province have been blocking the road used by Las Bambas since Nov. 20 as they demand jobs and economic contributions from the company, which they say generally fails to benefit residents despite its great wealth. Chinese-owned Las Bambas has said it will have to completely suspend production later this week if the blockade is not lifted. But talks are stalled, meaning that a solution seems unlikely in the near-term. Vasquez acknowledged that there had been no progress on Wednesday toward a resolution. "The Chumbivilcas conflict is in a critical state because the residents are in a negotiation with the company in which they cannot reach an agreement," she said. On Tuesday, the government failed to carry out a meeting it had scheduled between the two parties. Victor Villa, a legal advisor for the Chumbivilcas province, told Reuters that Las Bambas"s latest proposal was a "joke" and that they would not lift the road blockade in response. Peru is the world"s No. 2 copper producer and Las Bambas is one of its largest mines, accounting for 2% of global supply of the red metal. Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun and Marco Aquino; editing by Richard Pullin Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.