VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2018 /CNW/ -- Tahoe Resources Inc. ("Tahoe" or the "Company") (TSX: THO, NYSE: TAHO) regrets to announce a significant reduction to Minera San Rafael's workforce at its Escobal Mine in Guatemala.
Tahoe has been committed to maintaining Escobal's full workforce since the July 5, 2017 mining license suspension. The Guatemalan Constitutional Court heard the appeals of the Supreme Court's decision to reinstate the Escobal mining license on October 25, 2017. According to Guatemalan law, the Constitutional Court must rule within 5 calendar days of the public hearing. At this time, however, the Constitutional Court has yet to rule.
Consequently, given the delay and the inability of the Company to resume mining operations, the Company terminated 250 Minera San Rafael employees today. Prior to the license suspension, Minera San Rafael employed 1,030 people, 97% of whom are Guatemalan and 50% of whom are from the Santa Rosa region. Should the Constitutional Court rule in the next several weeks to uphold the lower court's reinstatement of the Escobal license, further workforce reductions may be avoided. Despite this difficult decision, Tahoe remains optimistic that based on legal precedent, the Constitutional Court will issue a favorable ruling reinstating the mining license and Escobal will resume production. At such time, Tahoe will seek to restore its workforce.
Ron Clayton, President and CEO of Tahoe: "Despite extensive efforts in Guatemala, we have been unsuccessful in reaching a favorable resolution that would avoid negative impacts for all stakeholders, especially for our workforce and the local economy. We are very disappointed to reduce our workforce at this time, but this is a natural consequence to the prolonged inaction in the legal system. We are hopeful that the Constitutional Court will honor their own legal procedures and precedents and urge them to provide a fair and transparent ruling quickly that demonstrates Guatemala remains open for responsible foreign investment. A productive Escobal is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders, including the Government of Guatemala, the local communities, our employees, our suppliers, and Tahoe's shareholders. I want to thank all of our Minera San Rafael employees for making Escobal into a world class mine and for their hard work, dedication and loyalty during this difficult time. We are hopeful we will get our valued employees back to work soon."
Tahoe is eager to resume operations at Escobal in order to return benefit to employees, communities, and the region. For every month of delay in operations at Escobal, approximately $4 million in taxes and royalties are not being paid to the Government of Guatemala and the local communities.
About Tahoe Resources Inc.
Tahoe's strategy is to responsibly operate mines to world standards and to develop high quality precious metals assets in the Americas. Tahoe is a member of the S&P/TSX Composite and TSX Global Mining indices and the Russell 3000 on the NYSE. The Company is listed on the TSX as THO and on the NYSE as TAHO.
