TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Gold major Goldcorp has reached a definitive court approved settlement with a group of Mexican locals regarding the surface rights to 600 ha of land located within the Penasquito mine land-package.
Goldcorp subsidiary Minera Penasquito had negotiated an agreement with the Cerro Gordo Ejido to use the land before starting to build the mine; however, in 2009 the Cerro Gordo Ejido took action against Penasquito in Mexico's agrarian courts challenging the land-use agreement.
Following a series of legal proceedings, the agrarian courts ruled on June 18, 2013, that the land-use agreement was null and ordered the land to be returned to the Cerro Gordo Ejido.
Goldcorp said the settlement fully resolved the dispute.
In parallel, Minera Penasquito and the Cerro Gordo Ejido entered into a new 30-year surface land-use agreement on commercial terms for the 600 ha.
"We are pleased to have reached a resolution to this issue and wish to thank the Mexican government, in particular the Secretariats of Economy, of the Interior and of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, and the state government of Zacatecas for their efforts to help bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion," Goldcorp senior VP for Latin America Joe Dick said.
Penasquito is the largest gold producer in Mexico, with this year’s gold output expected to range between 700 000 oz and 750 000 oz. The mine employs about 4 250 people.