Escobal mine

Last updated
Escobal mine
Location
Santa Rosa Department
Country Guatemala
Production
Products silver

The Escobal mine is a large silver mine located east of San Rafael Las Flores in the south of Guatemala in Santa Rosa Department. Escobal represents one of the largest silver reserve not just in Guatemala but in the world, having estimated reserves of 367.5 million oz of silver. [1] Exploration was by Goldcorp beginning in 2007. The mine was sold to Tahoe Resources in 2011. In April 2013 the mine was granted a 25 year license. The local Xinca people have led protests opposing the Escobal mine, raising issues of environmental risks and land sovereignty rights, but the protests have been suppressed by the Guatemalan government. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esquipulas</span> Municipality and town in Chiquimula Department, Guatemala

Esquipulas, officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas, is a town, with a population of 18,667, and a municipality located in the department of Chiquimula, in eastern Guatemala. Esquipulas' main attraction is the beautiful Black Christ located in the Basilica of Esquipulas, making the town an important place of Catholic pilgrimage for Central America. It is also one of the most important towns of the country and one that has had the most economic and cultural growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Romeo Lucas García</span> 37th President of Guatemala from 1978 to 1982

General Fernando Romeo Lucas García was a military officer and politician who served as the 37th president of Guatemala from July 1, 1978, to March 23, 1982. He was elected as the nominee for the Institutional Democratic Party. Elections for his presidency were fraud-ridden. During Lucas García's regime, tensions between the radical left and the government increased. The military started to murder political opponents while counterinsurgency measures further terrorized populations of poor civilians.

Goldcorp Inc. was a gold production company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company stood among the largest gold producers in the world, employed about 15,800 people worldwide, engaged in gold mining and related activities including exploration, extraction, processing and reclamation. Goldcorp’s operating assets included eleven mines in North and South America.

San Rafael Las Flores is a municipality in the Santa Rosa Department in southeastern Guatemala. As of 2020, it had a population of 13,620.

The Xinka, or Xinca, are a non-Mayan indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador, and in the mountainous region to the north.

Pan American Silver Corporation is a mining company based in Canada with operations in Latin America. The company has mines and other projects in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Copper Corporation</span> Mining company

Southern Copper Corporation is a mining company that was founded in 1952. The current incarnation of Southern Copper can be traced to the 2005 acquisition of Southern Peru Copper Corporation by the Mexican copper producer Minera México.

Mining in Ecuador was slow to develop in comparison to other Latin American countries, in spite of large mineral reserves. As late as 2012, according to the United Nations, Ecuador received less foreign direct investment per person than any other country in Latin America. During the 1980s, mining contributed only 0.7 percent to the Ecuadorian economy and employed around 7,000 people. Minerals were located in regions with little to no access, hindering exploration. Ecuador has reserves of gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium, lead, sulfur, kaolin and limestone. The latter practically dominated the early industry as it was used in local cement plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavnic mine</span>

The Cavnic mine is a large mine located in the northwest of Romania in Maramureș County, 26 km southwest of Baia Mare and 576 km north of the capital, Bucharest. Cavnic represents one of the largest polymetallic reserves in Romania having significant reserves of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc amounting to 20 million tonnes of ore grading 1g/t gold, 30g/t silver, 2% lead, 3% zinc and 1% copper. The resources amount to 640,000 oz of gold, 19.2 million oz of silver, 400,000 tonnes of lead metal, 600,000 tonnes of zinc metal, and 200,000 tonnes of copper metal.

Franco-Nevada Corporation is a Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based, gold-focused royalty and streaming company with a diversified portfolio of cash-flow producing assets. It is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.

The Muncelu Mic mine was a large open pit mine in the western of Romania in Hunedoara County, 16 km southeast of Simeria and 387 km north-west of the capital, Bucharest. Muncelu Mic represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Romania having estimated reserves of 6.5 million tonnes of ore. When it was operational it produced around 200,000 tonnes of iron ore/year. The mine also has a gold and silver reserves of around 5.4 million tonnes grading 1g/t gold and 8g/t silver resulting 173,000 oz of gold and 1.38 million oz of silver.

The Santa Ana Silver Project is a proposed open pit silver mining project by the Bear Creek Mining Corporation for the Santa Ana silver deposit in Huacullani District, Chucuito Province, Puno Region in southern Peru. Bear Creek's concession to the mine was revoked in late June 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahoe Resources</span> Mining exploration company founded in Vancouver, BC

Tahoe Resources Inc. was a mining company and intermediate precious metals producer with silver and gold mines in Canada, Guatemala and Peru. It was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia by Kevin McArthur, former CEO of Glamis Gold and Goldcorp. Incorporated in British Columbia, Canada, the company's U.S. headquarters is located in Reno, Nevada.

Canadian mining in Latin America and the Caribbean began in the 20th century. Latin America and the Caribbean's vast resources give the region great geopolitical importance, attracting foreign interest for centuries. From the colonial race of European empires, to the multinationals of today's neoliberal capitalist world, this region continues to draw interest. Canada's involvement in Latin America increased dramatically since 1989 with several landmark negotiations and agreements. By 2009, the Canadian larger-company mineral exploration market in this region was valued at US$1.7 billion.

The Fenix nickel project also known as El Estor mine is an integrated mountain-top nickel mine and processing facility near El Estor in the Izabal Department of eastern Guatemala. The project consists of a cluster of several deposits with reserves amounting to 36.1 million tonnes of ore grading 1.86% nickel. The project is owned by Solway Group through Guatemalan subsidiaries CGN and Pronico.

The Mirador mine is a large copper mine located in the Amazonian province of Zamora-Chinchipe in southern Ecuador. It is one of the largest copper reserves in Ecuador, and the first industrial-scale copper project to be developed in the country. The project has generated an environmental conflict that is emblematic in the national political debate on mining.

The mineral industry of Guatemala includes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining industry of Yemen</span>

The mining industry of Yemen is at present dominated by fossil mineral of petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and to a limited extent by extraction of dimension stone, gypsum, and refined petroleum. Reserves of metals like cobalt, copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, niobium, platinum-group metals, silver, tantalum, and zinc are awaiting exploration. Industrial minerals with identified reserves include black sands with ilmenite, monazite, rutile, and zirconium, celestine, clays, dimension stone, dolomite, feldspar, fluorite, gypsum, limestone, magnesite, perlite, pure limestone, quartz, salt, sandstone, scoria, talc, and zeolites; some of these are under exploitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escobal mine protests</span> Escobal mine protests

The Escobal mine protests are a series of political protests opposing the Escobal mine, a large silver mine developed by Canadian mining company Tahoe Resources in San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala. Since 2009 various community groups have advocated against the mine, citing risks of environmental damage and the land sovereignty rights of the indigenous Xinca people. These groups have employed nonviolent protest tactics such as blockading mine property and voting in municipal referendums, which found that over 95% of residents in surrounding communities opposed the Escobal mine.

References

  1. "Escobal gold mine". tahoeresourcesinc.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  2. "Guatemalan region militarized following dispute around Canadian-owned mine". FoxNews. Associated Press. June 1, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2015.