Successful Resolution to the Avino Mine Strike

Avino Silver & Gold Mines announced it has reached an agreement with the Mexican Mining Union to end a strike at the company’s mine in Durango. Avino highlighted that good faith negotiations were at the heart of the labor conflict’s favorable conclusion.

“We have reached a conclusion to the strike at the Avino mine. Negotiations were ongoing during the past 12 weeks and a successful resolution to a challenging situation has been achieved. I would like to thank our Mexican management team who worked tirelessly to oversee the negotiations and bring the situation to a close. We have a long history of good employee and community relations and I would like to thank the many dedicated workers and members of the community for their support,” said David Wolfin, Avino President and CEO.

Now that the strike has ended, the company reported that it will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of all underground, milling and surface equipment to ensure they are in excellent working condition. The mining project had been inactive since July 2020, when the strike started.

Avino highlighted that it continues to move forward with the dry-stack, tailings storage facility announced in February 2020. The project is on privately owned Avino land, is permitted and is currently in the final stage prior to commencing construction. The company reported that it is looking forward to positive discussions between the community of Panuco de Coronado, which neighbors the dry-stack tailings project. Durango’s state government will also take part in the discussions, whose aim is to attain social approval to move forward with the project.

Avino underlined that the combined support of all stakeholders is important for a transparent dialogue with the community. The project will aid in restarting production activities, which are expected to provide significant direct economic benefits and stimulus for local communities.

During an interview with Mexico Business News, Wolfin elaborated on Avino’s social commitment. He said that the company has been a gamechanger for the community’s economic development. “Before we reopened the mine in 2012, the parking lot outside was empty. Now it is full of cars. The mine helped people afford cars. Not only that, many of the plates on the cars are from places like Texas and Arizona, meaning that people that were living abroad are now able to come back home and find good employment. We have detonated economic development around the mine. We are proud to maintain a 100 percent Mexican workforce and our turnover rate is low,” said Wolfin.