Eramet produces first lithium from Centenario plant in Argentina
Eramet becomes the first European company to produce lithium carbonate at an industrial scale.
The Guatemalan unit of U.S. miner Tahoe Resources Inc laid off an additional 169 workers on Monday, two weeks after the country’s top court kept in place a more than 14-month suspension of operations at the company’s Escobal silver mine.
The layoffs at Minera San Rafael, Tahoe’s local unit, now total 872 employees since the company’s property was forced to halt operations last year after a Guatemalan court suspended the licenses.
An environmental organization filed an appeal alleging that the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines did not consult with the Xinca indigenous people before awarding the Escobal mining license to Tahoe.
Earlier this month, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court upheld the suspension of licenses at the Escobal mine, meaning Tahoe must return to the Xinca for consultations to try to regain its license.
“The uncertainty in which the (Constitutional Court) has maintained the case compels us to adapt,” Andres Davila, a spokesman for the mine, said in a statement.
Reno, Nevada-based Tahoe has argued that the mine is a key driver of growth in the local economy.
(By Sofia Menchu, David Alire and Julia Love; Editing by Peter Cooney)
