VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed precious metals producer Tahoe Resources has reported that a labour strike at its La Arena mine, in Peru, has impacted the operation since Friday.
According to the Vancouver-based miner, it is actively engaging the La Arena Union, which represents about 65% of the mine’s work force.
Tahoe advised that the union is demanding a bigger share of profits for employees, as stipulated under the country’s robust mining law.
“The company is in active dialogue with the La Arena Union and is looking forward to achieving a mutually agreeable solution in the near term,” Tahoe said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the company said not all employees are participating in the strike and production is not currently expected to be materially and adversely impacted.
Tahoe will make a further announcement once an agreement is reached, it said.
Earlier this month, Tahoe reported that an overfilled diesel tank spilled fuel at the La Arena mine and because a containment drain valve in the containment facility was left open on account of continuing rains, about 1 135 ℓ to 1 893 ℓ of fuel left the containment facility.
In Guatemala, Tahoe is also dealing with a mining impasse, as the Constitutional Court of Guatemala has requested additional information in the legal case against the company’s Escobal mining licence for its silver mine located east of San Rafael Las Flores, in the south of Guatemala.
The Guatemala Supreme Court in July 2017 provisionally suspended the Escobal mining licence after nongovernmental and antimining organisation Calas filed a claim in May 2017 against Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Calas alleged that Tahoe had violated the Xinca indigenous people’s right of consultation in advance of granting the Escobal mining licence to Tahoe’s Guatemalan subsidiary, Minera San Rafael.
Tahoe maintains that adequate consultation with communities had taken place.
The company’s TSX-listed equity fell as much as 8.15% on Monday to C$6.31 a share, eroding some of the 8.3% the stock had gained since the start of the year.