San Rafael Mine On Track to Reopen and Resume Operations

The Mexican government has announced that after more than a year of blockade, Americas Gold and Silver Corp's San Rafael mine in Sinaloa is expected to reopen and resume operations.

President López Obrador announced that an agreement has been reached between the government and the company, and resumption of operations at the company’s San Rafael mine is expected soon.  Americas has thanked the Mexican Government’s support in reopening the mine and has highlighted that a priority is to regain the legitimate control of operations.

Since Jan. 26, the company’s mining operations at its San Rafael mine have been illegally blocked by its union, under the argument that the company must improve its working conditions. However, on several occasions, Americas has explained that these claims are false accusations and that the real objective of the group is to illegally obtain a collective agreement and other contracts related to mining activities.

Previously, the company met with Mexican officials in an effort to resolve the dispute at its San Rafael mine. Americas Gold and Silver President & CEO Darren Blasutti, said he has spoken with the Mexico´s Interior Minister Olga Sánchez, Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, Labor Minister Luisa Maria Alcalde and the Canadian Ambassador to Mexico, Graeme Clark, to come up with strategies and solutions to the union problem.

The resolution comes after several efforts made by the company and the federal government, whose members have sought to address the conflict with key decision makers, including President López Obrador, while establishing an effective framework to return and maintain operations in the long term. Americas has mentioned that a key factor for the effective and permanent opening of the mine will be to continue to count with the support of the government.

The Mexican government has announced that health and safety inspections should be carried out at the facilities in the next three weeks to find out the status of the mine and bring its employees back. In a statement, Americas said that "the company remains committed to the Cosalá community, the company's workers and their families, and is ready for the workers to return to work as soon as possible once the illegal blockade is lifted."