First Majestic Silver

Battle for 'birthplace of the sun' in Mexico

Kailash — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:50:02 +0000

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – To the native Wixarika of Mexico, better known as the Huicholes, the mountains of Catorce and the desert at their feet are the centre of the world, a temple of prayer on the level of the Vatican. To a pair of Canadian mining companies, it’s a mother lode of gold and silver in a market hungry for both.

A battle for the UNESCO-recognised Wirikuta Natural and Cultural Ecological Reserve in the northern state of San Luis Potosí has been unfolding over the past year, since word got out that First Majestic Silver Corp.

One injured and another killed in Oaxaca, dispute over Fortuna Silver's water source

Kailash — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:04:07 +0100

San José del Progreso, Oaxaca. In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca one person was killed and another injured during a confrontation between mining opponents and police on January 18th. The middle aged farmer and a woman in her twenties – both indigenous Zapotecs – were among a group of villagers trying to block the path of an excavator working for the Canadian Mining Company Fortuna Silver. Bernardo Méndez and Abigail Vasquez were shot by local police and plainclothes gunmen working for the Vancouver-based mining company.

In Vancouver, Memorial for Killed Anti-Mining Protesters

whit — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:30:56 +0100

Group sends letters to companies to ‘end unjust mining’ and honour victims.

Several dozen people set up a memorial for slain anti-mining activists near the headquarters of Vancouver-based Goldcorp yesterday, highlighting what they said is widespread human rights abuse, ecological damage and health affects triggered by resource extraction by Canadian companies.

The group Mining Justice Alliance (MJA) — including a number of people from communities in Latin America and Asia impacted by Canadian-owned mines — demanded that companies extracting resources be held accountable for the impacts

Mexico: Wixarika Highlight Human Rights Violations

whit — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:55:55 +0100

The Wirikuta Defense Front released their annual report on the mining concessions in their territory and the threats they represent to their people and have presented the information to James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples on April 18th.

They asked Anaya to call on the government of Mexico to carry out concrete actions to protect the territory of Wirikuta, and an end to the violations of human rights against the the Wixarika people, who hold Wirikuta as a sacred site and have fought for years for its protection from Canadian mining company First Majestic Silver.

Injunction filed to halt illegal exploration drilling in Wirikuta

whit — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 11:11:44 +0100

Against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the region and other worrisome developments, Wixarika leaders have filed an injunction to stop the illegal drilling in exploration for gold and silver in their ancestral sacred lands of Wirikuta.

Since March 1 of this year, the Wixarika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta has been petitioning the Mexican government to intervene to stop the current exploration that is occurring in the region without the required permits, but they have received no response to date, prompting them to file the injunction in a federal court.

Mexico judiciary stops all mining operations in the sacred territory of Wirikuta

whit — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:18:31 +0100

The Wixarika People of Mexico and all others who hold Wirikuta to be sacred are celebrating a major legal victory with the announcement of the suspension of all work on mining projects in the territory.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sept.