GUATEMALA CITY – The Guatemalan unit of US miner Tahoe Resources laid off an additional 169 workers on Monday, two weeks after the country's top court kept in place a more than 14-month suspension of operations at the company's Escobal silver mine.
The layoffs at Minera San Rafael, Tahoe's local unit, now total 872 employees since the company's property was forced to halt operations last year after a Guatemalan court suspended the licences.
An environmental organization filed an appeal alleging that the country's Ministry of Energy and Mines did not consult with the Xinca indigenous people before awarding the Escobal mining licence to Tahoe.
Earlier this month, Guatemala's Constitutional Court upheld the suspension of licences at the Escobal mine, meaning Tahoe must return to the Xinca for consultations in order to try to regain its license.
"The uncertainty in which the (Constitutional Court) has maintained the case compels us to adapt," Andres Davila, a spokesman for the mine, said in a statement.
Reno, Nevada-based Tahoe has argued that the mine is a key driver of growth in the local economy.