Local Landowners who are members of the Ejido Carrizalillo in the municipality of Eduardo Neri, Guerrero, Mexico have issued this communiqué stating that they will shut down Goldcorp’s Los Filos mine today following a breakdown in negotiations with the company over their land rental contract. They call on the company’s VP of Operations in Mexico to replace local directors in the negotiations and call on the national and international community to be on alert for any acts of intimidation, eviction or repression that might occur as a result.

Communiqué, March 31, 2014

To the Public Opinion:

On March 31st, a last attempt was made to establish a new land use contract between the Ejidatarios of Carrizalilllo in the municipality of Eduardo Neri, state of Guerrero, Mexico and the transnational company Goldcorp through its subsidiary Desarrollos Mineros de San Luis, S.A. de C.V.

As representatives of the Ejido in these negotiations, we proposed an increase in the rental price per hectare 1.5 ounces above the 2.5 ounces that we received last year, in addition to a productivity bonus of 1.8 ounces for each 100,000 ounces produced per year. These figures were projected based on an analysis of the gold market, the annual production of the company – equivalent to 332,000 ounces of gold in 2013-, the millions of dollars in investment that the company has made and the company’s intention to continue to occupy these lands until at least 2030. In addition to this, we considered the situation in which the Ejido is living and other problems linked to the recurring lack of compliance with various agreements that the company has with us, the increasing incidence of health and environmental problems, and the lack of a clear disposition on the part of the company to deal with these, such as the lack of clean and adequate water and problems with contaminated water that is currently what we have to make do with.

For its part, the directors of Los Filos mine, – the name of the mining project that Goldcorp operates on our Ejidal lands – is offering a 3.5 ounces of gold at its current value with a commitment to guarantee the current price over 10 years, with an annual increase of 4%. If market conditions improves, the prices will increase according to the market rate.

On average, the company’s offer represents sustained benefits of a few thousand pesos (today 1 CDN dollar = 11.81 Mexican pesos) in relation to what was received following the last negotitation. In addition to this, the company wants to rent the lands for 10 years. Given everything that an ongoing relationship with the company implies for this length of time, more than anything we are aware of the extent of the risk that we run when we rent lands to such powerful mining companies.

As representatives of the Ejido in these negotiations we presented a new proposal to continue negotiating, but the company made no effort to consider it. As such, the negotiation was broken which means that we will exercise our rights according to end of the contract, which ends at 11:59pm on March 31. As a result, we will close the workers’ access to the mine and suspend mine operations until the company demonstrates greater disposition to negotiate or – failing that – demand that it begin to close the mine according to Mexican law to reduce the environmental and health damages that have occurred.

Given the negative response of the mine’s Local Directors and their incapacity to negotiate in a better way, as representatives of the Ejido in these negotiations we have decided to request the presence of Mr. Horacio Bruna, Vice President of Goldcorp’s Mexican Operations. We ask that he come as soon as possible to the blockade and directly deal with the Ejido’s negotiating team, and avoid augmenting the risk of a rupture in the relationship that has been established between the Ejido and the company in years past.

As an Ejido we request the support of national and international networks in this conflict against the transnational company, which once again demonstrates that its interests are always tied to avoiding any risk to the company’s investments, but that – as has been demonstrated in recent years – is insensitive to recognize the initiatives and demands that the population of the Ejido have and that without a doubt don’t measure up for the company that only considers market value in its mining operations.

We ask you to be on alert for any acts of intimidation, eviction or repression that might take place as a result of this situation, and thank different groups from across the country for the solidarity and support they have demonstrated.

Signed

Negotiating Team for the Ejido of Carrizalillo

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Local community shuts down Goldcorp’s Los Filos mine in Mexico; company claims it was suspended on purpose

http://www.miningwatch.ca/blog/local-community-shuts-down-goldcorps-los-...

3 April 2014

Goldcorp’s announcement Wednesday that it suspended operations at its Los Filos mine is a belated and misleading admission.

It is true that work at the mine in Guerrero, Mexico stopped – early Tuesday morning – after Goldcorp failed to reach agreement with the local community, the Ejido Carrizalillo*, with whom it had a land use contract.

But the mine did not stop on the company’s volition.

Rather, after talks broke down Monday night, the Ejido Carrizalillo announced an indefinite strike outside the mine starting early Tuesday until the company seriously addresses their concerns.

They stated that they would “suspend mine operations until the company demonstrates greater disposition to negotiate or – failing that – demand that it begin to close the mine according to Mexican law to reduce the environmental and health damages that have occurred.” They requested the presence of Mr. Horacio Bruna, Vice President of Goldcorp’s Mexican Operations, at the blockade in order to proceed with talks.

The full text of the Ejido’s communiqué can be read here.

In the flurry of news that has been coming out of the Mexican press, representatives of the Ejido emphasize concerns they have about the long term environmental and health costs of Goldcorp’s highly profitable open-pit gold and silver operation located a mere kilometer from their community.

“After the mine, there will be nothing left,” stated Julio Peña Celso a member of the Oversight Committee of the Ejido’s Commission to Milenio.com.

The same article cites complaints about water supplies contaminated with arsenic, water shortages, premature births and malformations in newborns. Loss of agricultural land and lack of a closure plan for the mine are also mentioned.

Julio Peña fears his community will become a ghost town.

Goldcorp’s response that negotiations are tough given a slump in the gold market and slightly higher taxes in Mexico might be what the company’s investors want to hear, but this is not going to get the company any closer to a new contract when the Ejido Carrizalillo is looking for recognition of the longterm health and environmental costs they have to bear well after the company is gone.

*An ejido is a social and territorial unit governed by a General Assembly that administers, regulates, and makes decisions over its territory and natural goods found above the surface. Until the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, it was not possible for ejido land to be parcelled off or sold.