Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines seeks permit for San José del Progreso mine in Mexico

Published by Brent Patterson on

A protest outside the Canadian consulate in Oaxaca days after Bernardo Vásquez, an opponent of the Fortuna mine, was murdered on March 15, 2012.

Educa Oaxaca reports that Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines, through its Mexican subsidiary Minera Cuzcatlán S.A. de C.V., has applied for a third time for a permit for its controversial San José del Progreso mine and that it seeks authorization to continue to exploit silver and gold there until 2031.

The communities that make up the No to Mining Front for a Future of All are calling on the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to reject this application. They say that the application by Fortuna/Cuzcatlán “minimizes the damage in the territories of Central Valleys and argues that the irregularities and illegality of the project are simply an ‘update of works and activities.’”

Notably, the No to Mining Front also “categorically rejects the ‘Canada-Oaxaca Indigenous Encounters 2021’ promoted by Oaxaca state governor Alejandro Murat and Canadian ambassador Graeme C. Clark”. The “Encuentros Indígenas Canadá-Oaxaca 2021” began on September 20 and concludes on October 8.

The No to Mining Front further states that it has “met on different occasions with representatives of the Canadian embassy to denounce the effects of the San José project.”

The permit application has also been reported on in NVI Noticias and Imparcial Oaxaca.

The Imparcial Oaxaca article notes that on October 8 at the El Panuelito garden there will be “the elaboration of a mural for the life and dignity of Indigenous peoples as a public denunciation of the facts of pollution in the Valleys of Oaxaca”

On March 11, Peace Brigades International and Amnesty International co-hosted this webinar that featured Neftali Reyes of Educa Oaxaca and representatives from Magdalena Ocotlán discussing the impacts of this mine.

This Educa Oaxaca report on the webinar highlights: “The representatives of the community located just a few meters from the San José mining project, owned by the FSM company, reiterated that ‘the mining company is affecting us a lot’ with water pollution, mine waste, constant noise and the shortage of water.”

PBI-Mexico began accompanying Educa Oaxaca in May 2013.

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