Pan American Silver still has no clear date to resume ops at Guatemalan mine

Vancouver-based Pan American Silver reported that it still has no clear date to resume operations at its El Escobal gold and silver mine in Guatemala, which is currently on care and maintenance, as the process to begin consultations with the Xinka indigenous community is progressing slowly.

The U$327mn project is one of the world’s largest silver deposits and the source of one of the most prolonged environmental conflicts in the Central American country.

In its third-quarter earnings report, Pan American said that Guatemala’s energy and mines ministry (MEM) appointed Luis Pacheco as deputy minister of sustainable development in August. He is responsible for overseeing the consultation process under ILO Convention 169 for the mine. The position had been vacant since April 29.

“During Q3 2024, Mr. Pacheco visited the mine along with other members of the MEM and held working meetings regarding the consultation process. The MEM has communicated to the company that the Xinka parliament is in the process of conducting meetings in their communities, but no new timeline has been published yet nor have any plenary activities been scheduled,” the company stated in a release.

“The Escobal mine remains on care and maintenance and there is no date for a restart of operations,” it added.

The Canadian miner’s activities in Guatemala have been suspended by direct community action and by order of the constitutional court since mid-2017, pending a consultation with the Xinka people mandated by the courts, in compliance with ILO Convention 169, which has yet to formally begin.

Before the suspension, Escobal produced around 20Moz/y of silver.

Michael Steinmann, president and CEO, stated in the report, “Pan American generated record financial results in Q3 2024, including record free cash flow of US$151.5mn, reflecting improved operating margins from the increase in production and silver and gold prices over Q2 2024.”

“We are on track to achieve our guidance for 2024, and we are looking forward to a strong finish for the year from a back-end loaded production profile,” he added.

For this year, Pan American forecasts production volumes between 21Moz and 23Moz of silver and between 880,000oz and 1Moz of gold.

Steinmann explained that at the Colorada mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, the new ventilation infrastructure has already resulted in a 59% increase in silver production and a 26% decrease in cash costs compared with the second quarter of 2024. “We expect throughput will continue to rise, reaching 2,000 tonnes per day by the end of this year,” he said.

At La Colorada, project capital of US$3.6mn was directed largely to exploration and engineering on the skarn project, and to complete the new ventilation infrastructure for the operating mine 

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