GUATEMALA – Late last week the Guatemalan congress passed legislation to significantly boost the mining royalties in that country. No other changes were proposed for the mining law, leaving miners to wonder if the country is trying to balance its 2015 budget by breaking their backs. The legislation must be signed by president Otto Perez Molina to become law.
For a company such as Tahoe Resources of Reno, NV, payments will double. It operates the Escobal silver-gold-zinc-lead mine. The new rule will force the company to pay a 9% royalty to the federal government and an additional 1% to local municipalities. That will be double the company's current 5% combined statutory and voluntary regime. Under terms of the new legislation no credit is given for any voluntary payments made by the company, and the new rule proposes to replace them. Tahoe currently funds a number of national, regional and local community programs.
Tahoe is currently engaged in discussions with the Guatemalan government, business interests and community leaders about the royalty increase. Visit TahoeResourcesInc.com to learn whether the talks are successful.
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