Guatemala court reinstates Tahoe mine license
PRESS RELEASE
(This is an abridged version of the release. For the full version click here)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - September 10, 2017 - Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX: THO, NYSE: TAHO) ("Tahoe" or the "Company") reported today that the Guatemalan Supreme Court issued a decision that reinstates the Escobal mining license of Tahoe's Guatemalan subsidiary, Minera San Rafael ("MSR"). This decision reverses the Supreme Court's preliminary decision to suspend MSR's license in connection with an action brought by the anti-mining organization, CALAS, against Guatemala's Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MEM"). CALAS alleges that MEM violated the Xinca indigenous people's right of consultation in advance of granting the Escobal mining license to MSR.
As part of its decision, the Supreme Court ordered MEM to conduct a consultation under ILO Convention 169. Per the ruling, MEM has been ordered to consult with the Xinca indigenous communities within a certain geographic area and report results of the consultation to the satisfaction of the Court within 12 months. Tahoe is seeking clarification from the Supreme Court on the specific geographical departments to be included within the scope of MEM's consultation. Although Tahoe believes that MEM complied with ILO Convention 169 before it issued the Escobal license, it will fully support MEM in any of its future indigenous engagement and will encourage MEM to involve independent ILO 169 experts to assist in this process.
The Company expects that CALAS, the Xinca Parliament and other interested parties may appeal the Supreme Court's ruling to the Constitutional Court. The following parties have standing and the ability to appeal the ruling: MSR, MSR's employees and vendors, the Xinca Parliament, CALAS, and judicially designated municipalities. After the Supreme Court rules on MSR's motion for clarification, MSR will have a right to appeal the matter to the Constitutional Court if it deems necessary. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on all appeals by the end of the year.
While the Supreme Court ruling allows Escobal operations to commence immediately, the illegal roadblock at Casillas is ongoing, preventing an immediate restart of operations at this time. The Company continues to work with the government, community leaders and international mediation experts to resolve the roadblock situation peacefully and expeditiously. Upon a resolution of the blockade, the Company expects to resume production at Escobal within a week.
Ron Clayton, Tahoe Resources President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are pleased that the Supreme Court of Guatemala has abided by legal precedent and restored MSR's license to operate the Escobal mine. The Company respects the rights of indigenous people in all jurisdictions in which we operate and are always willing to engage with any community members in those jurisdictions. We remain focused on peacefully resolving the blockade at Casillas. While we support the rights of all peoples to peacefully protest, we do not support the illegal blockage of public highway by non-locals which has had a devastating economic impact on our employees, contractors and communities. Once the road is re-opened at Casillas, we will resume full operations without disruption and put our valued employees and vendors back to work, support the economy of our local communities and return value to our shareholders."
As reported previously, until operations begin, the Company is only able to access $75 million of the $300 million capacity of its revolving credit facility entered on July 18, 2017, and may continue to be subject to events of default. Upon resumption of operations, the Company expects to provide an update on Escobal production that has been deferred to future periods. The Company expects to update previously suspended guidance for the gold operations, including exploration, later in the month.
About Tahoe Resources Inc.
Tahoe's strategy is to responsibly operate mines to world standards and to develop high quality precious metals assets in the Americas. Tahoe is a member of the S&P/TSX Composite and TSX Global Mining indices and the Russell 3000 on the NYSE. The Company is listed on the TSX as THO and on the NYSE as TAHO.
Subscribe to the leading business intelligence platform in Latin America with different tools for Providers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance industries.
News in: Mining & Metals (Guatemala)
Pan American meets Guatemalan govt on indigenous consultations for Escobal mine
The consultations, if they have positive results for the company, will help determine the viability of reactivating the silver mine, whose operatio...
Indigenous consultations on Pan American mine in Guatemala could begin within 2 months
If the consultations are successful, it will help the company demonstrate the feasibility of resuming work at the silver mine, which has been halte...
Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.
Other projects in: Mining & Metals
Get critical information about thousands of Mining & Metals projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.
- Project: Florida Canyon (ex Bongará)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
6 days ago
- Project: La Bonita
- Current stage:
- Updated:
6 days ago
- Project: Romina
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 days ago
- Project: Loro
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 week ago
- Project: Yanso
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 days ago
- Project: San Valentino
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 week ago
- Project: Biricu
- Current stage:
- Updated:
7 days ago
- Project: Centinela Second Concentrator
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 week ago
- Project: Proyecto Chumpe
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 week ago
- Project: Pachapaqui expansion
- Current stage:
- Updated:
1 week ago
Other companies in: Mining & Metals
Get critical information about thousands of Mining & Metals companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.
- Company: American Sierra Gold Corp.
- Company: Acerbrag S.A.  (Acerbrag)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Torex Gold Resources Inc.  (Torex Gold Resources)
-
Torex Gold Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based resource company engaged in the exploration and development of the Morelos gold property in Mexico's Guerrero state. The 29,000ha p...
- Company: ICA Fluor, S. de R.L. de C.V.  (ICA Fluor)
-
ICA-Fluor Daniel, S. de R.L. de C.V. (ICA Fluor) is a JV formed in 1993 between Mexican engineering construction group ICA and US-based engineering, procurement, construction an...
- Company: Mogotes Metals Inc.
- Company: Viridis Mineração Ltda