TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Less than a week after declaring commercial production, Torex Gold Resources has suspended operations at the El Limon-Guajes (ELG) mine, located in the Guerrero Gold Belt, south-west of Mexico City, saying an illegal blockade was started by three families demanding payments for alleged environmental damages.
TSX-listed Torex said the attempt to damage the company's reputation through unsubstantiated claims could be easily refuted with environment monitoring data and that the company would not succumb to this sort of tactic by making the demanded payments.
“We prefer to suspend operations until the authorities re-establish law and order,” the company advised.
President and CEO Fred Stanford stated that, rather than creating a precedent, the company preferred to suspend operations until the authorities took the next step in providing a law-and-order environment in which it could operate.
“The authorities have been actively involved in resolving the situation and we hope that their efforts are successful soon,” he said.
Torex last week declared commercial production at ELG after achieving steady-state processing of 9 470 t/d over 30 consecutive days. Production started in December.