Mining

For more information and background documents,
see the "mining” section of the Sister City Tools page.

The organized communities in the Department of Chalatenango, El Salvador, feel that they are facing the most dangerous threat to their survival since the war.  This threat comes in the form of two Canadian mining Companies, Au Martinique Silver and Intrepid Minerals, which have been issued licenses by the Salvadoran government to explore the area for gold and other precious metals.    If these explorations prove promising, subsequent licenses for “exploitation” would then be issued to these or other companies.  

The regions covered by Au Martinique’s three licenses –  Ojo Blanco, Santa Caterina, and Arcatao-- include the municipalities of Chalatenango, San José Las Flores, Nueva Trinidad, San Isidro Labrador, Arcatao, San Antonio de la Cruz, and San José Concaste, for a total of 99.7 square kilometers. A fourth license – Cerro Petencol –  in which  Au Martinique holds a 50% interest granted to the Intrepid Minerals subsidiary Triada S.A. de C.V, includes the municipalities of Chalatenango, San Miguel de Mercedes, Potonico and San José Cancaste.

Community members are convinced that this strip mining utilizing a cyanide extraction process will destroy their reforested land, pollute their water supply, ruin their agriculture and make their communities, sooner or later, uninhabitable. They are prepared to resist what they regard as an illegitimate incursion of international companies, abetted by their own government.   They are also extremely worried about the prospect of violence, which has occurred in communities in neighboring Guatamala and Honduras, in parallel situations.

Organizing against the mining is occurring on a large scale in El Salvador, with ongoing demonstrations and meetings.  The social and local governmental organizations which represent the involved communities have already made their resistance clear (you can read their statement). But the mining companies
continue to press forward in their exploration projects, ignoring issues of community consent. At a June Au Martinique shareholders’ meeting, a representative from U.S. – El Salvador Sister Cities attempted to communicate the Salvadoran communities’ concerns. CEO Jeffrey Klenda’s response was, “I’m not interested in what they have to say."

At the request of our sistered communities, PICA and U.S. – El Salvador Sister Cities are working with the CCR and MPR-12 to support their organizing and to bring the anti-mining campaign to North America.