The arbitration panel was formed to hear the lawsuit against the State of Guatemala, which was filed because of the suspension of the operations of the El Tambor mine, in San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc.
After the arbitration claim was filed by the Americans Daniel W. Kappes, Kappes, Cassidy & Associates before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on December 11, 2018, the body announced that the panel was formed.
Representatives of the El Tambor mine, located in San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc, filed a $300 million lawsuit against the State of Guatemala.
The arbitration lawsuit was filed by the Americans Daniel W. Kappes, Kappes, Cassidy & Associates, which was registered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) last December 11th.
Following the Guatemalan Constitutional Court's order of a community consultation as a requirement to resume operations at the San Rafael Mine, the company is now claiming that the timelines for the process are not clear.
Given the doubts that exist about the term that the government has to complete the process of community consultation, the mining company has decided to make another staff cut, given that it is unknown how long it will be before they can resume mining operations, which were halted on July 3, 2017.
Following the order to hold community consultations as a requirement for resuming operations at the San Rafael Mine in Guatemala, the authorities are waiting for the ruling to be be made firm in order to start a pre-consultation process.
After more than 300 days of waiting for a decision from the authorities, as a result of an appeal for legal protection filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) last week ordered a community consultation to be carried out, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), into the operations area of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
One year after the suspension of operations at the El Escobal mining project in Guatemala, the company is still waiting for a definitive judicial decision from the Constitutional Court.
In May 2018, the Legal, Environmental and Social Action Center of Guatemala (Calas) filed an appeal for legal protection, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines had not carried out the necessary community consultations before authorizing the licenses.
Industrialists are demanding that the Constitutional Court rule on the request for legal protection that was granted in favor of an environmental group and which is keeping the mine's operations in a state of paralysis.
The project has been paralyzed since an environmental organization filed an request for legal protection against the mine, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not carry out the necessary community consultations before authorizing the licenses.
After seven months of suspended operations, the company that operates the Escobal mine in Guatemala has announced that it is making 250 workers redundant.
In 2012 gold exports to Canada amounted to $377 million, equivalent to 54% of the total exported by the region that year, but four years later the figure has fallen to 0.
Figures of the information system on the Gold Market in Crude, Semi Wrought or Powder form in Central America, compiled by CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence Unit: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
Minera San Rafael will have to cease operations after its two operating licenses were suspended as a result of a writ of protection granted by the Supreme Court of Justice to an environmental group.
Prensalibre.com reports that "...The licenses for El Escobal, approved in 2013, and Juan Bosco, in 2012, are suspended and as a consequence, the San Rafael mine must stop its operations.The extraction plants whose licenses are now invalid are located in Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, and Nueva Santa Rosa, Casillas, and San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa."
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 Canadian mining company GoldCorp has agreed to sell 100% of its stake in the gold and silver mining project Cerro Blanco located in Asuncion Mita, Jutiapa, to Bluestone Resources.
From a press release by Goldcorp:
VANCOUVER, Jan. 11, 2017 /CNW/ - GOLDCORP INC. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG) today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement (the "Agreement") pursuant to which it has agreed to sell its 100% interest in the Cerro Blanco gold-silver project, located in Guatemala, to Bluestone Resources Inc. (TSXV: BSR) ("Bluestone").
The Mining Exploitation Project Niquegua Montufar II, run by Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel, and the one called Tajmulco II, by Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, have been suspended by the government.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mines indicates that "...Adhering to the appeal granted by the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the Civil and Commercial Branch constituted in the Court of Appeal, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), notified Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN), of the suspension of its authorization license for operating the mining exploitation project Niquegua Montufar II. "
On August 16 and 17 industry representatives from around the globe will be taking part in business conferences and lectures on the role of mineral resources and the impact of the activity on the economy.
The II International Mining Congress is being organized by the Mining Chamber of Nicaragua and will be held on August 16 and 17 in Managua.
The conference will include business conferences, panels and lectures on the economic and social impact of mining on communities; the role of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources in developing countries and environmental challenges in modern mining.
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. "