Tahoe Resources Inc. announces that the Guatemalan Supreme Court issued a decision that reinstates the Escobal mining license of Tahoe’s Guatemalan subsidiary, Minera San Rafael. 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.
The Company expects that CALAS, the Xinca Parliament and other interested parties may appeal the Supreme Court’s ruling to the Constitutional Court.
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.”