Fresnillo’s La Herradura mine was the most productive gold asset in the country with 520,400 ounces of output in 2016, helping to make Fresnillo the largest gold producer in Mexico last year. Gold has always held an important position in our portfolio and we have bullish views about this commodity’s future. When we listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2008, our growth plan was to double silver production to 65 million ounces and double gold production to 250,000 ounces of gold by 2018. We are now aiming to produce 1 million ounces of gold in 2018 – 300 percent more than we had initially targeted – so that reflects the vital role that this commodity has to play for the company.

It really comes down to our local stakeholders. We do not think of them as pawns in a game, we think of them as partners. The foundation of our CSR program is to be transparent and open, and a key aspect of that is educating the local population about the company and the project. Ixtacamaxtitlan is an extremely marginalized community, and when operating in these communities, it is essential to be sure that locals’ needs are being addressed. We want them to grow along with the project. For example, there is a mother and child clinic in a village near the Ixtaca property, and it did not have an ultrasound machine. One of our shareholders is a physician who specializes in childbirth, and he was able to procure an ultrasound machine which we provided training for.