LIMA, July 15 (Reuters) -

Miners in Peru who have been allowed to operate with

temporary permits have paused protests that blocked a major

copper transit route for more than two weeks, one of the protest

leaders, Luis Huaman, told Reuters on Tuesday.

He said they planned to suspend the protest at least

through Friday, while continuing to press the government for a

way to extend their permits.

Peru's government has been working to end the program for

operations known as "informal," which was created over a decade

ago and meant to be temporary, but workers in the sector say the

stricter regulations to operate legally are too onerous.

The protests began throughout Peru in late June, including

blocking a road in the Cusco region that is used by major miners

MMG, Glencore ( GLCNF ) and Hudbay Minerals ( HBM ),

whose mines are among the top 10 copper producers of Peru.

The Andean nation is the world's third-biggest copper

producer.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines is aiming to bring more

than

31,000 informal miners

in line with regulations by the end of the year, after

removing more than 50,000 others from the program earlier this

month. The ministry said at least 45,000 of those hadn't

registered any activity in the last four years.

"It's a truce," Huaman said. A committee of informal

miners and various government representatives were scheduled to

meet in Lima on Friday to discuss the matter, but protesters

would "resume the blockade on the mining corridor" if the

outcome was not in their favor, he said.

Huaman said the protesters want the government to ensure a

way for informal operations to continue, and said they will

restart the protest if an agreement isn't reached by Friday.

China's MMG and Canada's Hudbay last week told top

government officials their production

could be impacted

if the protests were to continue.