CERRO DE SAN PEDRO, Mexico (Reuters) - In this centuries-old desert ghost town, a bitter dispute pits a Canadian company eager to unearth mineral riches against local peasants worried about environmental damage.
Mining companies say the spat involving Metallica Resources Inc. (MR.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) , a precious and base metal exploration company, is a test of how open Mexico is to foreign investors.
Metallica wants to dig for gold and silver at the once-vibrant but now decrepit Cerro de San Pedro.
But the 400-year-old mining town faces fierce opposition from some of its very few remaining residents and many more in surrounding villages. They say blasting at the open pit mine poses a serious health threat and will damage historical buildings, including two 16th-century churches.
They fear the process used to extract metals from mined ore, which uses cyanide, will poison the region’s water table and form poisonous dust clouds that will even affect residents in the state capital of San Luis Potosi, about 11 miles away.
The opposition, which includes poor local landowners and activists, has managed to force the suspension of work at the mine as courts examine legal claims that it violates local and federal environmental standards.
All declared dead in Mexican mine blast
The 65 men trapped by a Mexican coal mine explosion six days ago cannot have survived their ordeal underground and are all dead, mine owners say.
The Grupo Mexico company said that while no bodies have yet been found, tests showed there was almost no oxygen inside the mine's shafts and tunnels and no hope of finding survivors from the explosion last Sunday.
"We are going to move on to the hard task of the physical recovery of our miners ... so the families can start their mourning," said Xavier Garcia, a senior executive at Grupo
Mexico mine rescue faces new obstacles on 5th day
A struggling operation to save 65 Mexican miners trapped in a coal mine faced new obstacles on Thursday as underground air quality and digging conditions worsened.
Rescuers came across piles of rubble from collapsed roofs where two of the men were working when a huge gas explosion ripped through the Pasta de Conchos mine on Sunday.
Since the collapse there has been no contact with the miners, who only had six hours' worth of oxygen with them and no food.
Relatives were hanging on the hope that they may be still be alive thanks to
Mexico Says 65 Miners Were Killed in Blast, Universal Reports
The 65 miners trapped inside a northern Mexico mine on Feb. 19 died instantly when an explosion elevated temperatures to more than 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 Fahrenheit), El Universal reported, citing Labor Minister Francisco Javier Salazar.
Salazar said yesterday in San Juan de Sabinas, Mexico, that the government will investigate the cause of the accident and the mine will stay closed for now, Universal reported. The mine is owned by Grupo Mexico SA.
The government had suspended rescue attempts on Feb. 24 because of dangerously high levels of lethal gas
Royal Gold buys royalties in Nevada, Mexico
Mineral royalty company Royal Gold Inc. said Thursday it will buy two royalties on mining operations in Nevada and Mexico from Kennecott Minerals Co. for $25 million.
Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) is based in Denver. Kennecott is based in Salt Lake City.
Royal Gold doesn't operate mines itself, but provides money for projects in return for royalties -- or percentage-based payments -- on the value of the minerals produces.
Royal Gold said it bought a 3 percent net smelter return on the Robinson gold, copper and molybdenum mine in eastern Nevada. The mine is operated
Mexico OKs Request to Close Copper Mine
Mexican labor authorities approved Grupo Mexico SAs request to close the La Caridad copper mine and cancel the collective contract after a three-month strike, a company official said Friday.
Juan Rebolledo, vice president for international affairs for Grupo Mexico, said the labor arbitration board approved the closure of the mine in northwestern Sonora state, and that the company can now cancel the contract which involves at least 1,200 unionized workers.
About 700 nonunion staff and 800 contract workers also will be affected, although the company can later reopen the mine with other workers once the
Mexico's Penoles Workers Postpone Strike Date to Vote Offer
Miners at Industrias Penoles SA, Mexico's largest silver miner, deferred a strike date scheduled for yesterday at a silver-and-lead mine to vote on a salary offer, the union said in a statement.
The strike at the mine in Naica, Chihuahua, was delayed until Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. New York time while the vote is organized, local union leader Sergio Chavira said in the statement. The terms of the Penoles offered weren't disclosed.
More than 350 union miners work at Naica, the largest lead mine in Mexico. The mine in 2005 produced
First Silver raises mining capacity in Mexico, expects to produce 2M ounces this year
First Silver Reserve Inc. has expanded capacity at its Mexican mine and expects to produce about two million ounces of silver this year from the operation.
The Vancouver-based miner (TSX:FSR) said Wednesday it had recently bought underground mining equipment to boost output at its wholly owned San Martin silver mine in Jalisco State, Mexico.
"With the new addition of these scooptrams, underground haul trucks and motors, equipment availability should be increased significantly in the last quarter of the year and the company is expected to achieve its
Miners file murder charges against Grupo Mexico
A Mexican union has filed murder charges against mining company Grupo Mexico and the government after 65 miners were killed last month in an explosion at a coal mine.
Mexico's miners' and metalworkers' union said late on Thursday it formally accused Grupo Mexico, Labor Minister Francisco Salazar and two mine inspectors of homicide.
The workers died after a methane explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the northern state of Coahuila on Feb. 19.
Union leaders say Grupo Mexico , the world's No. 3 copper miner, ignored safety concerns but the company has denied negligence.
Co-workers gave
Grupo Mexico Shuts San Martin Mine as Strike Lingers
Grupo Mexico closed its San Martin zinc mine because of a strike that has halted production since March, signaling labor disputes that have crimped world metal supplies wont end soon.
Its impossible to even hope that this is going to be resolved, spokesman Juan Rebolledo said in a television interview on TV Azteca. Thats why we closed it.
Lost production from San Martin and Grupo Mexicos La Caridad mine helped push copper to record prices on the London Metal Exchange this year, as some analysts forecast 2006 production will lag behind
U.S., Mexico sign pact ending 16-year cement dispute
The United States and Mexico Monday formally ended a 16-year-old cement trade dispute, allowing increased imports of Mexican cement to help in the reconstruction of the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Top U.S. and Mexican officials signed an agreement allowing Mexico to export 3 million tons of cement annually to southern tier U.S. states over the next three years with an import duty of $3 per ton, down from more than $26 now.
The pact, which was reached in principle in January, also ends various legal challenges brought by Mexico. The dispute dates back
