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Tahoe’s Escobal in Guatemala is the world’s largest silver mine
Canadian miner Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO), (NYSE: TAHO), which owns the Escobal silver mine in Guatemala, said Thursday the operation remains unaffected by the ongoing political turmoil in the country, which has forced President Otto Perez to resign amid a corruption scandal that gutted his government and plunged the nation into chaos.
Perez, a 64-year-old retired general, quit on Wednesday evening and Congress was due to hold an emergency session to hand power to the vice president later on Thursday.
Thousands of protesters marched in the capital and other cities in recent weeks calling for Perez to step down over allegations he was involved in a customs racket.
“I want to assure shareholders that today’s resignation of the President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, is not expected to affect our Guatemalan operations (…) Vice President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre is expected to be sworn in as president sometime in the next couple of days.,” the Vancouver-based miner said in a statement.
“We respect Guatemala’s democracy and its ability to hold open and free elections, which continue to be scheduled for Sunday, September 6, 2015,” it said, adding that “the Escobal mine continues to operate as expected.”
Tahoe’s mine has been at the centre of a nationwide debate in Guatemala over the role of mining in the country’s economy and broader environmental issues.
Opposition to the mine has been fierce and the company had to overcome a string of challenges before the mine reached commercial production last year. Those included a Guatemalan appeals court probe and a complaint filed with the Ontario Securities Commission related shootings in the project vicinity.
