Another 200 employees of the Minera San Rafael operation, in Guatemala, have lost their jobs, the Reno, Nevada-based owner of the Escobal mine, Tahoe Resources, reported on Monday.
The company, which is in a long-running dispute with the Latin American nation and has not been able to produce silver from the Escobal mine since operations were shuttered in July 2017, said that it had now dismissed about 70% of the total workforce of Minera San Rafael.
Prior to the licence suspension, Minera San Rafael employed 1 030 people, 97% of whom are Guatemalan and 50% of whom are from the Santa Rosa region.
“Despite extensive efforts in Guatemala, we have been unsuccessful in reaching a favourable resolution that would avoid negative impacts for all stakeholders, especially for our workforce and the local economy. We are extremely disappointed with the need for a further workforce reduction at this time, however, this is a natural consequence to the prolonged inaction in the legal system,” Tahoe CEO Jim Voorhees commented in a statement.
Tahoe’s licence was suspended after an anti-mining organisation claimed that the Ministry of Energy and Mines had not consulted with the Xinca indigenous people before awarding the licence for Escobal. Tahoe said that the Guatemalan Constitutional Court had heard the appeals of the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate the mining licence on October 25, 2017. According to law, the Constitutional Court had to rule within five calendar days of the public hearing, but it has yet to do so.
“The company cannot, at this time, predict when it will issue its ruling,” the firm stated.
Voorhees added, however, that Tahoe was committed to seeking a resolution and restarting the Escobal mine “at the earliest possible time”.
Since the licence suspension in July 2017, the government and local communities have forfeited more than $50-million in taxes and royalties, the company noted.