LIMA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Informal miners in Peru

suspended talks with the government and may resume protests due

to disagreements in negotiations, one of the protest leaders

said on Friday.

CONFEMIN union leader, Maximo Franco Bequer, told reporters

the government refused to alter an August 17 deadline for miners

to move explosives into formal "powder magazines."

He said 20,000 miners who cannot meet the deadline would be

excluded from a government program to formalize their work.

The miners, located in the Cusco region, had suspended their

two-week-long protest on July 15 that had blocked a major copper

transit route used by mining firms MMG, Glencore ( GLCNF )

and Hudbay.

Informal miners in Peru operate with temporary permits under

a program created over a decade ago that the government has been

trying to end. The miners say the stricter regulations to

formalize their work and operate legally are too onerous and

would likely leave them without employment.

The union expects to meet in the coming hours to decide on

new protests.