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Saturday, September 12, 2026 · Guatemala CityQ7.6282 per US$+0.00%
ADVANCE GUATEMALA
Back to the researchIn research — sources cited, not yet in the verified archive

In depth

The outcome of the Xinka people's consultation on Escobal

Dossier
Social license and prior consultation23-licencia-social.md
Domain
Social license and prior consultationlicencia-social
Room
Law/ley
Audited
Audited

According to the company, the pre-consultation (stage 1) concluded in July 2022 and the consultation has continued since. On 8 May 2025 the Xinka Parliament announced its decision: NO, after a 7-year consultation process, asking for definitive closure (Earthworks, an opposition organization). A year later (May 2026) the consultation is not formally concluded — the administrative process is still with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) — Pan American Silver has not spoken publicly about the Xinka decision, and the mine remains in care and maintenance. The legal effect of that 'no' (veto or input?) is undefined, precisely because there is no law; the 2026 status of the MEM file is an open gap.

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.

Figures

Xinka people's decisionEarthworks
NO, announced 8 May 2025 after 7 years of consultation2025

Caveat

advocacy source; to be set against the company's position

Sources

Organizations named in the answer

  • Parlamento XinkaThe collective rights-holding counterpart in the Escobal consultation; it announced the 'no' decision on 8 May 2025 after 7 years of process and called for the mine to be closed for good.Other
  • EarthworksAn organization opposed to Escobal; the source for the Xinka decision (8 May 2025) and for the 'one year on' follow-up (May 2026): a consultation with no formal closure and a mine in care and maintenance.Other
  • Pan American SilverOwner of Escobal (it bought Tahoe Resources in February 2019): 264.5 Moz of proven and probable silver reserves, a 4,500 t/d plant, ~20 Moz a year in 2014-2017, in care and maintenance since 2017; it settled and issued a public apology in Garcia v. Tahoe (30 July 2019).Company case

Directory of organizations

Related records

This layer is research: read from public sources by the archive's own team, every claim cited with the date it was consulted, and audited where it is marked so. It has not entered the verified store — no figure here was fetched back from its source or stamped with a retrieval time — so it wears no red provenance numeral and never mixes with the verified figures.