Esperanza Silver to Promote Sustainability in Morelos

Morelos has become a pioneer in promoting sustainable mining in the country. The Mexican mining company, Esperanza Silver, is promoting sustainable mining in the San Agustin Tetlama community in Morelos’ Temixco municipality, to develop the region and recover jobs that have been lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Mexico, there are 212 municipalities with mining projects, most of them stemming from agreements between companies and communities that seek to promote the mining sector in the region and therefore, its social development, reported El Sol de Cuautla.

Francisco Monsebaiz Salinas, former Head of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Morelos, said there are 15 mining companies in the state. Among these is Esperanza Silver that operates in Tletlama, one of the poorest communities in Morelos. The company aims to invest approximately US$450 million over the next 10 years to promote sustainable mining operations in the state. Esperanza Silver said the project has the potential to generate 1,500 direct jobs and 6,000 indirect jobs, besides establishing a network with local providers, reported Outlet Minero.

Esperanza Silver is a mining company that has constantly supported the San Agustin Tetlama community. In June, the company rehabilitated the community’s main energy transformer, which stopped working and affected more than 2,500 people, who for a week and a half did not have water supply, reported Outlet Minero.

Esperanza’s new sustainable project was designed according to the New Socially and Environmentally Responsible Mining Model that incorporates specific requirements from the National Development Plan 2019-2024. Moreover, the new model is also aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The planning of the project also was based on the UN report “Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Atlas.” This report aims to encourage mining companies to incorporate relevant SDGs to their business and operations. Moreover, it emphasizes that partnerships between government, private sector, communities and civil society are essential to transform the mining industry, reported El Sol de Cuautla.

Esperanza Silver said the company will work to reduce marginalization indexes and to generate sources of employment with a long-term sustainable mining model. Moreover, the company aims to benefit other productive sectors, such as agriculture, which requires mining’s contribution to cover food demand, reported El Sol de Cuautla.