In 2011, Hochschild Mining obtained two contiguous mining concessions, Reducción Norte Corazón de Tinieblas and Corazón de Tinieblas, in the municipalities of Malinaltepec, Zapotitlán de las Tablas, Tlacoapa and San Luis Acatlán in Guerrero state, Mexico. Exploration and exploitation of the mine was prevented by community legal challenges. These led Hochschild Mining to renounce the concessionsContinue reading “Reducción Norte & Corazón de Tinieblas”
Subsoil Natural Resource Archives
Marlin
Mineral production at the mine ended on 31 May 2017. However, recuperation and revegetation activities have proceeded following the end of production, followed by continuous monitoring and maintenance. As part of Goldcorp Inc.’s sale of another Guatemalan project, Cerro Blanco, to Bluestone Resources Inc., Goldcorp granted Bluestone a right of first refusal to certain assets andContinue reading “Marlin”
Cerro Blanco
Despite receiving an exploitation licence in 2007, the Cerro Blanco project faced repeated technical and engineering difficulties preventing production. In 2013 Goldcorp suspended mining operations at the Cerro Blanco site. In 2017, Bluestone Resources Inc. purchased the mine, undertaking new feasibility studies and engineering work. In 2021, it published a new feasibility study proposing a change from subterranean toContinue reading “Cerro Blanco”
Escobal
Operations suspended pending completion of consultations with affected Xinka indigenous communities, as per Constitutional Court decision released in September 2018.
2014 Salvadoran NGOs submit information to the Universal Periodic Review
In 2014, Salvadoran NGOs submitted independent reports to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review process on El Salvador. Amongst a range of human rights issues, the NGOs highlighted the need for the State to strengthen the protection of the right to water of the population and also highlighted the negative environmental and transborder impacts causedContinue reading “2014 Salvadoran NGOs submit information to the Universal Periodic Review”
2020- Guatemalan Government and the Xinka Parliament initiate pre-consultation over Escobal
In February 2020, the Xinka Parliament and the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines restarted dialogue on the conditions necessary to fufill the Constitutional Court ruling on the requirement to conduct a consultation process with the Xinka people affected by the Escobal mine (see Legal Action entitled, “2017- Judicial Suspension of Tahoe’s Mining Licences“). In October, afterContinue reading “2020- Guatemalan Government and the Xinka Parliament initiate pre-consultation over Escobal”
2019 Salvadoran NGOs submit report to UN Universal Periodic Review
In March 2019, the Central American Network for the Defence of Transborder Waters – El Salvador (Red Centroamericana por la Defensa de las Aguas Transfronterizas – El Salvador, RedCAT) and Franciscans International (FI) submitted a joint report as Civil Society Organization input to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. InContinue reading “2019 Salvadoran NGOs submit report to UN Universal Periodic Review”
2014- Citizen Transborder Treaty Drafting [Cerro Blanco]
For Salvadoran NGOs involved in the Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica (National Roundtable against Metallic Mining), the regulation of transborder water resources in Central America has been an issue for many years. Their concerns emerged out of the discovery that both Guatemala and Honduras have received requests for exploration and exploitation of mineralsContinue reading “2014- Citizen Transborder Treaty Drafting [Cerro Blanco]”
1997 Enactment of Treaty for the Execution of the Trifinio Plan
In 1987, a long-mooted agreement between El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala was developed to establish the transnational Biosphere Reserve in the cloud forest covering the Montecristo massif which lies on the border of the three countries. The region is home to rare flora and fauna as well as serving as the catchment zone for threeContinue reading “1997 Enactment of Treaty for the Execution of the Trifinio Plan”
2017 El Salvador passes Legislative Ban on Metallic Mining
On 29 March 2017, the Legislative Assembly approved a law prohibiting metallic mining in El Salvador. The law enjoyed cross-party support, passing with 69 out of 84 votes, well over the qualifying majority (Reuters, 2017 and Montoya, 2021).The law prohibits all exploration, extraction and processing of metals, whether in open pits or underground, and officiallyContinue reading “2017 El Salvador passes Legislative Ban on Metallic Mining”