Information for Investors
On January 8, 2019, shareholders for Pan American Silver (TSX: PAAS; NASDAQ: PAAS) voted to acquire Tahoe Resources (TSX: THO; NYSE: TAHO) and with it, the company’s portfolio of assets in Peru, Guatemala, and Canada. Since 2013, when the violence and militarization at the Escobal project escalated, Tahoe Resources has faced a series of security commission complaints, high-profile divestments, and shareholder lawsuits as shareholder confidence in the company was shaken. Pan American Silver’s acquisition of Escobal does not resolve the underlying issues fueling the peaceful opposition.
Before acquiring Tahoe Resources, Pan American Silver faced local opposition and conflict over environmental harms elsewhere that it operates. Notably, ten years before buying Escobal, Pan American purchased the unwanted Navidad silver project in Chubut, Argentina where the local resistance succeeded in prohibiting mining since 2003. Local environmental coalitions denounce that the company has tried to pressure local, provincial and national authorities to enable mining to go ahead. For more information, see Environmental Justice Atlas’ profile on the company, documenting abuse at 8 mine sites across Latin America.
SEC complaint filed against Pan American Silver
Just before Pan American Silver’s acquisition of Tahoe Resources, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP), Earthworks and the Guatemala-Maritimes Breaking the Silence Network filed a complaint with the British Columbia Security Commission and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, asking for an investigation into allegations that both companies have misled shareholders on the health and viability of the Escobal mine in advance of the acquisition.
Tahoe Resources’ legacy
Since 2013, organizations allied with communities affected by the Escobal mine issued Investor Alerts, warning of serious conflict around the mine and denouncing Tahoe’s lack of transparency. In 2014, Norway’s Government Pension Fund-Global, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, divested from Tahoe.
- 2017 Investor Alert: Civil lawsuit cleared for trial, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg
- 2015 Norway’s Council of Ethics recommends divestment from Tahoe Resources, citing “unacceptable risk of the company contributing to serious human rights violations through its operations” at the Escobal mine
- 2013 Investor Alert: Tahoe Resources, a Dangerous Investment
Tahoe Resources incorporated in British Columbia in 2009 with its head office in Reno, Nevada. It eventually listed on the Toronto, New York, and Lima Stock Exchanges. Multiple complaints were filed against the company with both the British Columbia Securities Commission and the US Securities Exchange Commission.
Following the first court order suspending the Escobal mine in July 2017, three separate shareholder class action lawsuits were filed against Tahoe Resources, which were later consolidated into one claim that is proceeding in Nevada. The lawsuit alleges that Tahoe executives “made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) consultation obligations relating to the permitting of the Escobal mining license were not met; (2) in turn, the Escobal mining license is subject to suspension; and (3) as a result, Tahoe’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.”
Latest information for investors
Xinka Parliament Calls Out Pan American Silver Obstruction of Escobal Mine Consultation
Original article published by Earthworks.org The Xinka are an Indigenous people who live in what is now southern Guatemala. In 2014, the mining firm Tahoe Resources opened a massive silver mine
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Congresswoman Bush, Colleagues Urge State Department to Affirm Rights of Guatemala’s Xinka People
The Xinka people, an Indigenous group in Guatemala, have experienced abuse as a consequence of their opposition to the Escobal silver mine June 2023, Congresswoman Bush meets with members of
40th Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights award goes to Xinka Parliament, in the name of peaceful resistance
Originally posted on RFK Human Rights. On Tuesday June 6, the same day as the 55th anniversary of the death of Robert F. Kennedy also marked the 40th Human Rights
Guatemalan Mine Consultation Enters New Phase
Original article published by Earthworks.org Xinka people continue to strive for the right to self determination In September of 2018, Guatemala’s highest court ordered the Ministry of Energy and Mines