El Dorado

Project Phase / Fase del proyecto:

Operations effectively halted in July 2008. In April 2017, following the enactment of the Law on the Prohibition of Metallic Mining, OceanaGold (through its subsidiary, Minerales Torogoz) announced that it would exit the country. The OceanaGold website states that project closure procedures were completed on 15 September 2017 and the company withdrew from El Salvador in 2019.

Exploration Start Date / Fecha de inicio de la exploración:

1993

Exploitation Start Date / Fecha de inicio de la explotación:

Not started

Extraction Type / Método de extracción:

Subterranean

Country / País:

El Salvador

Company / Empresa:

Parent Company: Dayton Mining Company (Canada): (2000-2002)

Parent Company: Pacific Rim Mining Corporation (Canada): (2002-2013)

Parent Company: OceanaGold (Australia): (2013-2019)

Subsidiary: Minerales Torogoz

Natural Resource / Recurso natural:

Gold

Zinc

Municipality, Department / Municipio, Departamento:

San Isidro, Cabañas

Region / Región:

Central America

Legal Actions / Acciones Legales:

1996-2017 Salvadoran General Mining Laws and Amendments

2006 De facto Moratorium on Mining imposed by successive Salvadoran governments

2006- Popular Law Drafting and Legislative Activities on the Right to Water

2006-2017 The Mesa Nacional drafts and proposes Legislative Bans on Metallic Mining

2009 – IACHR grants precautionary measures on behalf of community defenders opposing El Dorado mine

2009-2016 Pacific Rim International Investment Arbitration against El Salvador

2010 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing on the Situation of Environmentalists in Mesoamerica

2014 Permanent People’s Tribunal Hearing

2014 Salvadoran NGOs submit information to the Universal Periodic Review

2014-2017 Five municipalities declare themselves “Mining-Free Territories” through popular consultation procedures

2017 El Salvador passes Legislative Ban on Metallic Mining

Political Actions / Acciones Políticas:

2005 Local NGOs generate interest in mining issues

2005 Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica is formed

2006 Mesa Nacional launches a Week of Action against Metallic Mining

2006 Demonstration against metallic mining in San Isidro, Cabañas

2008 Symbolic funeral held for Pacific Rim

2009- Central American environmentalists join forces against extractive projects

2009 Letter writing campaign supporting legislative ban on metallic mining

2009 Benefit concert held against metallic mining

2010 Pacific Rim CEO testifies before Canadian House of Commons

2010 NGOs send letter to Canadian Embassy

2011-2012 Salvadoran Strategic Environmental Assessment and Mesa Nacional's response

2011 Open Letter to World Bank officials regarding Pacific Rim Arbitration

2012 Petition to reiterate demands for prohibition on metallic mining

2012 Forum on Electoral Agenda and Environmental Protection Laws

2012 Conference in Canada marches to Pacific Rim offices to protest arbitration

2012 Public Forum for the Prohibition on Metallic Mining

2012 The Council of Canadians campaign against Pacific Rim

2012 International Mission organized to verify Human Rights violations and criminalization of activists in Guatemala and El Salvador

2013 Salvadoran activists participate in Canada and U.S. speaking tour

2013 Press Conference and Forum on Metallic Mining Prohibition

2014 Demonstration at World Bank headquarters in El Salvador

2014 Demonstration at World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C.

2015 Campaign against voting for Legislative and Mayoral Candidates that favour mining

2015 Week long festival demanding OceanaGold leave El Salvador

2015 JPIC holds Forum on the Threat of Mining and the Problem of Water in El Salvador

2016 Public Forum regarding report on Mining, CSR, Conflict and the El Dorado Foundation

2016 Protest in the Philippines calling for OceanaGold's Expulsion from El Salvador

2017 Breakfast Conference, called "Academic Organizations and Institutions against Metallic Mining in El Salvador"

2017 Archbishop leads march to Legislative Assembly demanding approval of Ban on Metallic Mining

2017 Public Forum held to discuss the OXFAM and CEG report on Metallic Mining in Central America

2018 Mesa Nacional press release warning against threat to Law Prohibiting Metallic Mining

2020 NGOs publish report on Alternatives to Economic Development based on Metallic Mining

Reports / Informes:

2005 Technical Review of the El Dorado Mine Project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), El Salvador

2008 Technical Report Update on the El Dorado Project Gold and Silver Resources, Department of Cabañas, Republic of El Salvador, Pacific Rim

2010 El Salvador - Gold, Guns, and Choice - The El Dorado gold mine, Violence in Cabañas, CAFTA Claims, and the National Effort to Ban Mining

2010 Environmental Defenders in Danger: The Situation in Mexico and Central America in the Conext of the Mining Industry (Spanish)

2011 Modern Mining in El Salvador: Emblematic of Perverseness of the Globalizing Masquerade (Spanish)

2011 Final Report of Strategic Environmental Evaluation of Mining Sector in El Salvador

2013 Special Report on the Cerro Blanco mining project and the potential impacts on human rights for the Salvadoran population (Spanish)

2013 The Myths and Reality of Gold Mining in Central America

2014 Debunking Eight Falsehoods by Pacific Rim Mining/OceanaGold in El Salvador

2014 The Impact of Canadian Mining in Latin America and Canada's Responsibility: Executive Summary of the Report Submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

2014 Gold, Water and the Struggle for Basic Rights in El Salvador

2016 Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Conflict: OceanaGold and the El Dorado Foundation in El Salvador

2015 Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Conflict: OceanaGold and the El Dorado Foundation in El Salvador (Spanish)

2016 Metallic Mining in Central America: An Assessment of Impacts, Transparency, and Taxation (Spanish)

2016 The 'Canada Brand': Violence and Canadian Mining Companies in Latin America

2016 Arbitration Award Decision -Pac Rim Cayman LLC v. Republic of El Salvador, ICSID Case No. ARB/09/12

2016 Special Report by the Human Rights Ombudsman on the legacy of the San Sebastian mine and its impact on the lives of the affected population (Spanish)

2020 Economic Alternatives to Metallic Mining in El Salvador, A look at the Department of Cabañas in the light of the Sustainable Development Goals (Spanish)

References / Referencias:

Council of Canadians/Blue Planet Project, Institute for Policy Studies, Maritime Union Australia, MiningWatch Canada, and OXFAM, “Debunking Eight Falsehoods by Pacific Rim Mining/OceanaGold in El Salvador”, dated March 2014, online: https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Eight-Falsehoods-Final-March-17-2014-WEB.pdf, accessed 1 December 2020.

El Salvador Times, “Minera se va de El Salvador”, dated 2 April 2017, online: http://www.elsalvadortimes.com/articulo/politicos/minera-va-salvador/20170330185726019909.html, accessed 1 December 2020.

GeoResources, “OceanaGold Agrees to Acquire Pacific Rim Mining”, dated 10 October 2013, online: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/oceanagold-agrees-to-acquire-pacific-rim-mining-tsx-pmu-1838763.htm, accessed 1 December 2020.

Global Investment and Business Center, “El Salvador Mining Laws and Regulations Handbook, Volume 1, Strategic Information and Regulations” (2013), p. 40.

OceanaGold, “El Dorado Project”, online: https://oceanagold.com/our-business/closure/el-dorado-project/, accessed 1 December 2020.

Pacific Rim Cayman LLC, Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration, dated 9 December 2008, online: https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/ita0590.pdf, accessed 1 December 2020.

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