Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Rescuers and heavy equipment are picking through the debris in hopes of finding more survivors after a landslide thundered down a mountainside in the Philippines on Good Friday. The avalanche of mud hit the mining village of Panganason around 2:30 am Friday morning, according to a story posted on Inquirer.net.
Clad in orange suits, the rescuers sifted through the rubble in the hope of adding more survivors—15 so far—plucked from the mud and rocks. But 21 people remained unaccounted for, according to Maj. Jake Obligado, commanding officer of the 71st Infantry Battalion.
The commander said it was lucky the landslide occurred on Good Friday when many families were on vacation, otherwise many could have died, the story says. The governor of the province has ordered a 30-day halt in mining activities in the gold-rich Compostela Valley.
A spokesman for the mining company, U.S.-based Augustine Gold and Copper Mining Ltd., said the landslide did not occur in the vicinity of mining operations. The company says its Kingking prospect is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold prospects in the world.
