Educa Oaxaca has posted on their website:
“On Wednesday, September 9th, leaders from the affected communities stood in front of the office of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), to protest the announced expansion of the mine in San José del Progreso, Oaxaca.”
“Communal land holders and representatives of the alliance ‘No a la Minería por un Futuro de Todas y Todos’ (No to Mining for a Future for All) also attended the event to condemn the operation.”
Their article further highlights: “The construction of the mine started in 2009, without the consent of the community.”
El Universal Oaxaca reports that the communities and social organizations of the No to Mining Front say: “Authorizing a new expansion will not only deepen the environmental deterioration that we are already experiencing; it would legitimize an activity that has operated for 17 years without our consent, on communities such as those whose lives depend directly on their territories and specifically on water.”
Libertad Oaxaca also notes: “Community, agrarian and municipal authorities of Zapotec communities in the Central Valleys pointed out that the request presented by the company does not represent a new project, but a new stage of expansion of a mining activity that, they say, has been operating in their territories for 17 years.”
And Imparcial Oaxaca reports: “At a press conference in front of the Semarnat facilities in the city of Oaxaca, the representatives explained that the mining company should have closed in 2021, however, the federal government authorized the renewal of the concession for another 12 years, even though the communities have demonstrated against it.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International, through its accompaniment of Services for Alternative Education A.C. (Educa Oaxaca), has long followed the situation of Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver mining operation in San José del Progreso, Mexico.
In November 2012, PBI-Mexico accompanied a “Misión Civil de Observación” that included two future members of the PBI-Canada team (Meera Karunananthan and Brent Patterson). Karunananthan told CBC News: “This is part of an international pattern with Canadian mining companies violating human rights in communities abroad.”
On January 15, 2025, Promineria reported: “Fortuna Mining has signed a binding agreement to sell its 100% stake in Minera Cuzcatlán to Mexico’s Minas del Balsas.
By May 2025, JRC Investments acquired Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán S.A. de C.V. At that time Cuatrecasas commented: “It includes the signing of a management contract and a mining royalty contract with the seller Fortuna Mining Corp.”
JRC is a “private Peruvian company”.
Fortuna Mining Corp. additionally noted: “Fortuna retains a 1.0 percent net smelter royalty on production from the San Jose Mine concessions payable after the first 6.1 million ounces of silver and the first 44,000 ounces of gold or 119,000 gold equivalent ounces have been mined or extracted from the property.”
We continue to follow this.
Additional reading: Peace Brigades International has long accompanied the struggle against the Fortuna Silver mine in Oaxaca (PBI-Canada, February 28, 2025).
