According to a recent study, companies that carry out mining activities in the country, operate with a profit margin of 22% before paying taxes.
The report prepared by Central American Business Intelligence (CABI), details that companies in the mining industry operating in Guatemala can achieve extraction costs of up to 55%.
Goldcorp has announced that the process of closing the gold mine has already started and will be completed within four to five months.
The company that owns the mine in San Marcos started the vegetation recovery process in 2012, when it finished open air exploitations, and is now completing the process of recovery in the underground area, which it expects to finish this year.
The sale of the mine is part of a marketing plan for some of the assets owned by the Canadian concessionaire Goldcorp.
In addition to the operations of the Marlin mine, Goldcorp has put on sale its gold and silver mine Los Filos in Mexico, and also is studying alternatives to offload the Alumbrera mine in Argentina.
David Garofalo, executive director of the company, told Elperiodico.com.gt that "...
The mining company is progressively reducing gold extractions and will achieve total closure in 2017, while efforts begin to recover the area.
During 2013 202.200 ounces of gold were extracted, while in 2014 a decrease was reported of at least 185,000 ounces. It is expected that production this year will be equal to or lower to those last year and 2016 is expected to be the last year that extractions will be made, projecting approximately 150,000 ounces.
From these revenues the mine gave the State of Guatemala 4.25% in royalties.
The Marlin mine in San Marcos generated these revenues during the first half of 2013. "The cost of gold mining in San Marcos is $182 on average and is still the lowest of the 11 companies of which Goldcorp owns or has interests in in the continent," noted an article in Prensalibre.com .
The decline in the price of precious metals worldwide has forced the company to temporarily suspend operations at Cerro Blanco.
"The Cerro Blanco mine in Asuncion Mita, Jutiapa, will enter into a state of maintenance and care, ie only keeping areas active that are necessary for the development of the mine and its infrastructure, but it will not perform exploitation activities as was planned. "
Royalties on mineral holdings in Guatemala will be imposed on three levels related to the base value of the extracted material.
According to Mario Marroquin, president of the Union of Mining and CEO of the company Montana Exploradora (main extractor of gold and silver in Guatemala), precious metals are those with the highest and there are other lower rates for base metals and non-metallic minerals.
Thriving companies from the banking mining, sugar, rubber, call center, and palm oil sectors, have been the engines of the Guatemalan economy over the last 10 years.
An article in Elperiodico.com.gt reviews the characteristics of each of these sectors and the major players in each.
"At the beginning of this century, Guatemala had 34 banks that managed assets of about $5 billion.
After two years of not granting mining licenses, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has approved exploration in the departments of Alta Verapaz, El Progreso, Zacapa, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Quiche and Santa Rosa.
Of the one hundred and eighty applications that were pending, the Ministry has already resolved one hundred, said the head of the ministry, Erick Archila.
In light of discussions in Congress over the mining reform project, representatives from mining companies are warning that royalties that should not exceed 8%.
Mario Marroquin, executive director of Golcorp in the country, said his client would abide by the decision arising from the reform, but warned that a percentage larger than 8% would be untenable for any mining project.
Mining in Guatemala pays 1% in royalties. In Colombia, the royalties are 4% and in Chile's mining industry pays the state 14% of gross sales.
In the past five years, exports of silver and gold have increased from $14.6 million in 2005 to $528 million in 2010.
The most recent announcement made by the Canadian mining Goldex Resources Corporation, revealed preliminary results of testing of the first seven out of twelve drill holes, on its flagship property, the El Pato Project, in Chiquimula. "The mining company said it has found high-grade mineralization of 12.4 grams of gold per ton", reported Alexis Batres in an article in Elperiodico.com.gt.
Due to the rising prices of gold and silver, the amount exported in the first quarter increased from $100 million in 2010 to $177 million in 2011.
The upward trend in exports was already reflected last year in 2010, when they showed an increase of 52% in monetary terms in relation to 2009.
An article in Siglo21.com.gt includes a statement from the Montana company, "People and organizations turn to gold as a way to protect their savings from unstable world economic situations, prospects for inflation and the instability of the dollar. Gold is a resource which people traditionally turn to, as it is a way to safeguard the purchasing power of savings for the future. "
Goldcorp plans to increase production from 296.100 ounces of gold in 2010 to 400.000 in 2011.
If the goal is met, it would be the second highest percentage growth.
Sigloxxi.com reports in their article, "the company, owner of Montana Exploradora, which operates Marlin, estimates it will produce in 2011 between 2.65 million and 2.75 million ounces of gold in all of their mines, in which the Guatemalan operation would contributes less than half a million ounces, the second in volume for the multinational."
The Canadian miner reported gold and plant exports from the Marlin mine for $ 449.7 million in 2010.
Mario Marroquin Rivera, executive director of Goldcorp, explained that the total export of gold was $ 368 million and silver sales totaled $ 131 million.
Prensalibre.com notes in their article, "In the five years of operation of the Marlin mine, sales totaled $ 1,416 million, of which U.S.
Following the announcement about the increase of 144% in reserve estimates at the Guatemalan mine, Tahoe Resources closed $ 303 million in stock sales.
The purchase was made by a group of investors led by GMP Securities.
The share offer is to be completed by December 24th. If buyers execute an option to purchase another 3.3 million shares, Tahoe Resources will add another $ 45 million to resources available for project development.