The Escobal mine is a large
silver mine
Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...
located east of
San Rafael Las Flores San Rafael Las Flores is a municipality in the Santa Rosa Department in southeastern Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast ...
in the south of
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
in
Santa Rosa Department. Escobal represents one of the largest silver reserve not just in Guatemala but in the world, having estimated reserves of 367.5 million oz of silver.
Exploration was by
Goldcorp
Goldcorp Inc. was a gold production company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company stood among the largest gold producers in the world, employed about 15,800 people worldwide, engaged in gold mining and related activit ...
beginning in 2007. The mine was sold to
Tahoe Resources
Tahoe Resources Inc. was a mining company and intermediate precious metals producer with silver and gold mines in Canada, Guatemala and Per ...
in 2011. In April 2013 the mine was granted a 25 year license. The local
Xinca people
The Xinka, or Xinca, are a non-Mayan Indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador, and in the mountainous region to the north.
Their languages (the Xincan languages) are ...
have led
protests opposing the Escobal mine, raising issues of environmental risks and land sovereignty rights, but the protests have been suppressed by the Guatemalan government.
References
External links
Map showing location of mine
{{coord missing, Guatemala
Silver mines in Guatemala